SA3: The Power of Chaos
by koldstare
Summary: After the defeat of the finalhazard, Sonic and the gang must fight the power of an enemy long since defeated...
1. Default Chapter

_Prologue_

A lone figure stood on a mountain top over looking the lush jungle. It's face covered by the long brown that was joined to his cloak. Two gloved hands appeared from the robe and one of them was holding a green chaos emerald. Then, a explosion startled the figure but he was not surprised. The teal light that eminated from the pyramid vanished as soon as it had appeared. The figure nodded."So it begins.."The figure threw the emerald up into the air and yelled..."CHAOS WARP!"The figure vanished leaving behind only footprints in the already damp gravel. 


	2. Chapter One: A New Adventure

**Chapter One: A new Adventure**

_Place: Mystic Ruins, near pyramid  
Time: 12:00am_"Beans again, I guess"_Sonic the hedgehog is a guy that loves adventure. He seeks out and venture and has saved the world many times the evil Eggman. Ever since the defeat of the Finalhazard, Eggman went into hiding. Without a bad guy to fight Sonic relaxed and went on a journey into the forest to find himself. All Sonic will find is trouble..._Sonic opened the can of beans and poured them into the pan on top of the stove. He rustled his spines that had been covered in the drizzle from the last cloud that had now disappeared over the horizon.Sonic laid back and looked into the flames of the stove. The flames danced about turning from pale orange to a vibrant red. Time seemed to stand still..."Whaooo!"Sonic noticed the smoke rising from the beans and turned of the stove."You've done it now Sonic. Even Amy can't burn beans."Sonic poured the beans into a bowl and began to eat them. Suddenly, a bright teal flash knocked him sideways spilling beans all over the floor of the jungle."What was that!? I better go look!"Sonic rushed off towards the flash and left the beans to dry up in the afternoon sun._Place: Mystic Ruins, Pyramid  
Time: 12: 03_Sonic arrived to see a scene of destruction. Bits of the pyramid littered the floor and it now looked lobsided. Then Sonic heard a rustle nearby. Sonic prepared and jumped behind the nearby rubble."Gotcha!" he yelled, only to be faced with a small lizard.  
"Just a lizard.."  
"Hello" said a voice nearby.Sonic turned to see an Echindna. It looked exactly like Knuckles except for its gold fur covered in bits of dirt and a teal glow in his eyes."Hi! I'm Sonic the hedgehog and you are?"  
"I am Cheq of the great Echidna tribe" the figure responded.Sonic then noticed something. In the Echidna's right hand was an emerald. The emerald had no colour and was completely see through. Sonic tensed his muscles, ready for a fight."You'll have to see Knuckles the other Echidna I know!"  
"You know Knuckles?" Cheq replied, closing his left hand into a fist.  
"Yeah, he's my friend.." Sonic said wisely.  
"Then... prepare to FIGHT! CHAOS STRIKE!"Sonic flew up into the air but landed gracefully as he was prepared for an attack."Hedgehogs always land on their feet," shouted Sonic.  
"They die that way as well!" Cheq responded and they both rushed towards each other, ready for a fight.

Cheq leapt upward with a kick that was easily blocked by Sonics hand. Sonic unleashed a flurry of punches, which Cheq dodged with relative ease. Cheq did an upward kick which caught Sonic on the chin and flung him about 12 feet away.

"Weakling" muttered Cheq.Sonic charged towards Cheq and pulled off a homing attack that Cheq caught in the stomach. Cheq, now a bit winded, held his emerald aloft."Dodge this! Chaos strike!"Sonic saw the teal blade just before it caught him in the ribcage and again flung him into the air. While in the air Sonic realised he had to get rid of that emerald. Sonic did another homing attack towards Cheq and caught the emerald in his hand."Let's see how you fair without the emerald!" shouted Sonic.  
"You think I need that piece of glass? Chaos Strike!"Sonic caught this attack on the chin and landed in a nearby bush. Cheq lifted his nose at Sonic."I'll go find my brother now, blue spike" said Cheq,"CHAOS WARP!"Cheq vanished in a bright flash. Sonic stood up and looked around.  
_How did he use chaos moves without the emerald?_ thought Sonic,_ I know someone who will know though!_  
Sonic held the emerald tightly."Chaos Control" he yelled but nothing happened.He tried again and again but to no avail.  
_Guess I'll have to run it_  
Sonic pulled back and let go as he flung himself full speed to Tail's Workshop leaving the pyramid in a dismantled state.

_Place: Tail's Workshop  
Time: 12:05pm_

"Not again!!!"_Miles "Tails" Prower is one of Sonic's best friends. He has helped him many times but sometimes he slips up and it is Sonic who saves him. Ever Since the defeat of the Finalhazard, Tails has been working on a new tornado codenamed the Tornado Storm. So far he has yet to get it off the ground..._"Guess I need more power" said Tails as he threw the fake emerald to the ground,"if only I had a real Chaos emerald it would work. Unless..."Suddenly, the door flew of its hinges and Tails fell off his chair and into a pile of junk. Sonic rubbed his head and stood up."Tails? Tails!?"Tails raised his head out of the junk."Sonic?"  
"Tails? What are you doing in there?"  
"Just waiting. Next time knock ok?"  
Sonic nodded,"Can you check this out?"Sonic handed Tails the emerald. Tails took it over to a weird machine in the corner that looked like a microscope only bigger."Oh, and Tails? Got any food?"Tails pointed to the fridge before Sonic even finished his sentence. Sonic ran over and pulled out a chilli dog. Sonic then turned his attention to Tails."That's strange?" said Tails.  
"Whaff?" said Sonic with a mouthful of chilli dog.  
" Remember when you beat Chaos and you used the positive energy of the emeralds? Well, this was a Chaos emerald but now it has no energy. Positive or negative. It's like it was sucked straight out of it. Where did you get it?"  
"From this guy inn the jungle" said Sonic about to take another bit of the chilli dog,"He called himself Cheq and he was after Knuckles and.... KNUCKLES!"  
"Is Knuckles in danger?"  
"Yeah, come on, we'll take the tornado"  
"OK!"Sonic and Tails both hoped into the Tornado and Tails opened the doors."To Angel Island!" shouted Sonic.Tails pulled a lever and the tornado shot off straight towards Angel Island.

_Place: Angel Island, Master Emerald Altar  
Time: 12:10  
_

_  
It's quiet today... too quiet...  
_

_  
Knuckles the Echidna is guardian of the Master Emerald. He and Sonic do fight but when help is needed he is the first to step in and help. Ever since the finalhazard was defeated, Knuckles returned to his island to reassume his position as the guardian._

Knuckles stood up from his place. The emerald behind him glowed fiercely and a chill wind blew by. Something was going to happen. Knuckles tensed his body. A bright flash moved Knuckles but he did not fall. There stood a gold Echidna."Who..?" said Knuckles.Cheq advanced on Knuckles. When Cheq's foot touched the ground all life beneath it died."Don't you remember me?", said Cheq, now within striking distance," Surely you remeber me.... brother!"Cheq leapt forward but Knuckles dodged to the side. Knuckles threw his fist at the Echidna but he easily dodged it and grabbed Knuckles arm. He pulled him in and placed his hand on his head."REMEMBER!" yelled Cheq.Knuckles saw it all.... His mother.... Father..... Cheq..... The Master Emerald.... A strange yellow animal...Knuckles hit the floor in a daze. His body had to absorb the information it had just received. Cheq stood over Knuckles."Not the type of guardian I had hoped for but what do you expect when you weren't supposed to be here in the first place" mumbled Cheq,"Now, I will take your Master Emerald"Cheq began to walk up the stairs to the emerald when a blue flash caught him mid step. Sonic landed at the foot of the stairs and Tails flew in with his tails. Cheq stood and faced the heroes."You don't give up, do you blue spike? And you brought your fox friend as well" said Cheq, acting calmly.  
"Step away from my friend!" yelled Sonic.  
"Yeah, you baddy!" yelled Tails.  
"Please, I am going to take the Master Emerald and the Chaos emeralds and recreate Chaos!"  
"You're a bit late," said Sonic,"I already beat Chaos, when he was perfect!"  
"He wasn't perfect!" snapped Cheq," with me he will be. I am the power of Chaos and I will give him all he needs to be the ultimate!"Sonic sighed. Why did it seem like all masterminds want to be the ultimate? Sonic shook his head and continued to listen. Cheq, however, had finished and was ready to battle. Sonic nodded to Tails and the fight began!Sonic leapt up into the air and came down with a bouncing attack. Cheq dodged to the side but caught Tails's punch on the chin. Cheq landed gracefully on the floor and charged forward with a kick to Sonic but Sonic had vanished and so had Tails."Come out Spike so I can finish you!" Cheq yelled, beginning to get annoyed.Cheq was suddenly knocked forward by a homing attack and landed on the floor. Sonic stood defiant."You're weak.." said Sonic.  
"No" said Cheq," You are! CHAOS STRIKE!"Sonic flew up into the air from the swipe but Tails caught him."You can't escape! CHAOS GRAVITY!"Tails suddenly felt like a ten tonne weight and fell to the ground quickly. There he was trapped. Sonic had landed on his feet and was charging towards Cheq."Please! CHAOS ST..."Just before Cheq finished his attack, Knuckles threw his fist into his back. Cheq flew into the Sonic and Sonic into Tails freeing him from the gravity of chaos. Cheq was the first to stand and begun an assault on Knuckles.

Knuckles threw another fist towards Cheq but he easily dodged it and threw his own. Knuckles glided trough the air like a dove and landed on his feet. Again Knuckles launched another attack but Cheq kicked him hard in the belly, throwing him into a nearby column.

"Now I will take you emerald!" said Cheq, slightly breathless.  
  
Cheq climbed the stairs and placed his hand on the emerald."CHAOS ABSORB!"Green energy travelled up Cheq's arm into his eyes. He felt the power... the power. Then, it stopped. The Master Emerald disappeared underneath a plague showing the seven Chaos emeralds."What is this!" yelled Cheq.  
"Something to keep you away!" yelled Knuckles.  
"I will return with seven Chaos emeralds power and break your seal! CHAOS WARP!"Cheq disappeared and Knuckles fell to the ground and cast his gaze towards Sonic and Tails. Knuckles walked over and shook them both. Sonic stood up."Sonic" said Knuckles,"I guess I have to explain all this eh?"  
"Your right there" said Sonic who helped up Tails and waited for Knuckles's explanation.

Knuckles sat on a nearby rock and so did Sonic. Tails, still in a daze, landed on the ground and decided to stay there for a while.

"Well?" said Sonic.  
"Ok, but remember, I only just remembered this so if I'm a little vague it's normal" said Knuckles.Sonic nodded and Tails shook his head which was an ok to Knuckles."My tribe of Echidna's was the master tribe. We guarded the Master Emerald and the Chaos emeralds to stop any misuse coming to them. I was born in the line that was chosen to guard the Emerald as we have long life. My mother, Tealia, and my father, Firdia, gave birth to my brother Cheq and then me"  
"He's your brother!" said Sonic and Tails together.  
"Yes", said Knuckles,"He is my brother. He is about 5 years older than me. He was going to accept the task of guarding the Emerald until he disappeared in the jungle and never returned. I was given the job instead and then I protected Emerald. That was, until Chaos came and there was a battle. I guess I lost my memory then"  
"Wait" said Tails,"Do you now what this power of Chaos is that Cheq was going on about?"  
"No. I don't. Maybe he found something but I don't know."Sonic was deep in thought. He knew Knuckles was old but that old? And Cheq was his brother? Then he remembered."There are stone tablets in the Museum! Maybe they'll say something about this power"Knuckles nodded,"OK, let's find these tablets!"  
"There's also a Chaos Emerald there! I donated it after the defeat of the finalhazard" Shouted Tails, finally standing up.  
"To Station Square! and we'll stop by Amy's as well!"  
"OK!"Everyone headed to the Tornado and hopped in."You know guys. This could be the start of a new adventure!" said Sonic.The Tornado flew off leaving those words echoing throughout the island.**End Of Chapter One**


	3. Chapter two: Minions of Chaos

**Chapter 2: Monsters of Chaos******

_Place: Station Square  
Time: 1:00pm_

"Red or Blue?"

_Amy the hedgehog is one of Sonic's best friends. She adores Sonic and would never leave his side for anything. When Finalhazard was defeated, she moved to a new flat and got a new roommate._

Amy paced up and down. She couldn't decide on which dress to wear.

"Red or Blue? Cream!" shouted Amy still thinking.  
"What Amy?"

_Cream the Rabbit is a new friend. She is a young and very polite young girl who would help anyone. Her Chao, Cheese, has been her best friend since she was young and sometimes is very helpful. _

"Which should I wear? Red or Blue?" repeated Amy.  
"Red. It suits you more."  
"Thanks Cream!" said Amy.

Amy walked behind the screen in her room and began to get changed. Then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" shouted Cream when she was at the door.

Cream opened the door and came face to face with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Cream knew who Sonic was as soon as she saw him. She dragged him in and sat him on a chair.

"Hello Mr Sonic! Can I get you a drink?"  
"CHEESE!" shouted cheese.  
"Ermm..." said Sonic, watching Tails and Knuckles walk in, "Is Amy in?"  
"AMY!" shouted Cream, "Sonic's here and he brought friends."

Amy walked in and brushed the dust of her dress. She saw Sonic and ran up to hug him. Sonic dodged the hug and Amy hugged the chair instead. She stood up and cast Sonic a mean look.

"Cream, this is Tails and this is Knuckles" said Amy.  
"Hi Mr Knuckles. Hi Tails." Cream blushed as she said hi to Tails.

Tails smiled and sat on a nearby chair.

"What are you here for then Sonic?" said Amy trying to ignore him.  
"There's a new bad guy on the loose and we could do with your help."  
"That's big of you" said Amy.  
"Come on Amy! Help us!" said Tails.  
"Ok. Just for Tails though. Where are we going?"  
"The museum to get the chaos emeralds." said Knuckles.

Amy ran into her room and threw aside a huge pile of clothes. She picked up her Piko Piko hammer and her new crossbow. She had been practicing with it for awhile and was getting good. She ran back in and faced Cream.

"Cream. Be good Ok?" Cream nodded.

"Mr Sonic? Could you watch me play in the parade?"  
"When is it?" asked Sonic.  
"Tomorrow"  
"OK, I'll watch" Cream jumped and said bye as they left. She walked into her room and picked up her Violin.

It was purple and had the purple Chaos Emerald embedded in the centre.

"Should we have told them Cheese?" said Cream.  
"Cheese?" said the Chao.  
"Anyway, lets practice for Mr Sonic!"  
"CHEESE!" Cream played her Violin and the soft, pure music floated out into the noisy street.

_Place: Unknown Temple  
Time: 1:10pm___

Cheq sat in his throne. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Then, a bright glow flew off him and formed a perfect map of the world.

"Perfect! Locate Chaos Emeralds!" said Cheq, pleased.

Five dots of Blue, Purple, Grey, Green and Yellow appeared on the map.

"Hmm.. Only five. The Sixth must be lost. I will find it but first..."

Cheq reached out and touched the grey dot. It zoomed in on a giant ship floating above the Bermuda triangle. There was a giant face of man with a moustache on the side.

"Maybe I can get help from this person in exchange for a little jewel?"

Cheq stood up and the map floated away.

"Time to return. CHAOS WARP!"

Cheq vanished and left the temple empty.

_Place: Egg Carrier 3, Lab  
Time: 1:15___

"Blasted Contraption!!"

_Dr Eggman as he is called by Sonic is a scientific genius that tries everything to stop Sonic. After Finalhazard, he stole the grey Emerald and is trying to harness it's power to some effect._

Eggman stood up and paced in front of the Chaos Emerald. He had tried everything to make it work for him but it seemed mysterious. Every time he tried something on it he blacked out and woke up two days later. Something was wrong with it. He had to try one more time...

"I wouldn't do that if I was you"  
"Who's there?" said Eggman, startled.  
"I have come to help you master"

Cheq walked out of the Shadows that were concealing him and began to walk towards him. Eggman placed his finger on a red button.

"I trust no one!"

Eggman pushed the red button and 100 robots flew out towards Cheq, firing all of their lasers. Cheq easily dodged all of these and began smashing the robots to pieces. He took care not to use any Chaos moves as Eggman would then know to much. After the last robot fell, Eggman lowered another machine, Metal Sonic. The robot flew around Cheq like he had wings.

_This machine is like the spike. He is weaker though_ thought Cheq.

Cheq leapt up into the air and brought down his fist hard into Metal Sonic's head. The robot whirled before receiving a one inch punch to the chest which threw him into a nearby electricity source. His eyes blacked out.

"Who are you?" said Eggman, now very worried.  
"I am stronger creature than you but I need you help. I want you to take care of a little blue spike for me" said Cheq.  
"Sonic..." said Eggman.  
"And in return I would show you how to use the Emerald you hold".

Eggman thought before standing in front of Cheq and offering his hand. Cheq grabbed Eggmans hand and smiled.

"First, I would like you to find the remaining Chaos Emeralds for me from this map".

Cheq moved his hand and the map from before appeared. Eggman nodded.

"I have to get something first though.."

Cheq turned and returned to the shadows before a bright light warped him away. Eggman smiled. This Echidna knew what he wanted and so did Eggman.

_Place: Station Square, Museum  
Time: 1:15pm___

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy all walked into the museum. Amy ran over to clerk and got a leaflet which was a map of the museum. She opened it and everyone gathered round.

"Where shall we go first?" said Tails.  
"The Emeralds here and the tablets are on the other side" noted Knuckles.  
"Tails, Amy. You go to the tablets. Me and Knuckles will go get the Chaos Emerald" said Sonic.

Everyone nodded and walked off to their destinations.

_Place: Museum, tablet room  
Time: 1:18pm_

Tails and Amy walked in and soon saw the stone tablets found on Angel Island. Tails walked up to them and Amy kept watch. Tails began to read the tablets.

"Long ago, Chaos came to put the world into chaos".  
"Well DUH!" said Amy. Tails ignored her and carried on.

"When Chaos absorbed the emeralds he became perfect but a Echidna named Tikal locked him away with herself in the Master Emerald. She did not seal his power though"  
"Tails!"

Amy ran at Tails and pushed him into a nearby cupboard. She left the door open slightly to see what was happening.

"Stupid tablets. Covered in dust"

It was just the janitor and he left after brushing the tablets. Amy and Tails both fell out of the cupboard and Amy saw something on the tablet. She stood up and pressed the button. The tablet fell away leaving another tablet in it's stead. Tails inspected.

"Whats it say?" asked Amy.

Tails opened his eyes and grabbed Amy's arm.

"We have to go now!" shouted Tails.  
"Why?" said Amy  
"Because Sonic and Knuckles are going to be outnumbered" Amy followed Tails quickly and they ran as fast as they could towards the Chaos Emerald chamber.

_Place: Museum, Emerald Chamber  
Time: 1:18pm___

Sonic and Knuckles entered the chamber and saw the Emerald protected by tainted glass.

"Well no one is getting that" said Sonic.  
"I don't know..." said Knuckles "Cheq is strong".  
"Thats right" Cheq dropped down from the ceiling and faced his enemies.

"Cheq!" shouted Sonic and Knuckles together.  
"The one and only" said Cheq sarcastically.  
"We won't let you get the emerald" said Knuckles.  
"Brother, I already have"

Cheq pulled back his fist and rammed it hard into the glass. It shattered easily leaving the blue Chaos Emerald exposed. Sonic ran forward and grabbed the emerald before Cheq could grab it and Knuckles began to distract Cheq with a punch. Cheq dodged it and hit Knuckles hard with his foot right into his jaw. Knuckles hit the ground and Cheq focused on Sonic.

"Chaos Strike!"

Again Sonic fell to the strike and the emerald rolled to Cheq's feet just as Tails and Amy arrived.

"Guess I'm outnumbered" said Cheq as Knuckles and Sonic rose from the ground.  
"That's right" said Sonic.  
"Then meet my minions. But first.."

Cheq clutched the emerald tightly and all the energy drained from it quickly. Then Cheq held out his hand and yelled...

"Come my Chaos Minions!"

Two beams of light came from Cheq's hand. The Teal light fell to the floor and swirled up creating a fox with four tails. It had the teal emerald imprinted on it's forehead and it's teal fur shined brightly.  
The other beam created a mini tornado which dissolved into a blue hedgehog with deep blue eyes and the blue emerald on it's forehead. The blue was much darker than Sonic's and his shoes were a orange colour.

"Say hello to Whips" said Cheq pointing towards the fox, "and Conis" he said pointing towards the Sonic look-a-like.

Everyone watched as Conis and Whips advanced the team.

"Now, Let's FIGHT!" yelled Cheq.

Conis and Whips charged forward towards the gang. Sonic leapt forward with a kick towards Whips and Tails began to fly around Conis. Knuckles began to walk towards Cheq.

"Amy, go hide" said Knuckles.  
"No! I want to help!" she yelled.  
"GO!" yelled Knuckles.

Cheq leapt forward and got Knuckles to the ground. Cheq began punching Knuckles in the face but Knuckles was blocking easily. He pushed Cheq off and turned into his fighting stance. Sonic, meanwhile, was having a hard time with Whips. He fought like Tails in every manner except, Tails wouldn't kill you. Whips lashed his tails at Sonic's face. Sonic grabbed them and spun him. He let go and watched him fly into the column that had held the Chao Emerald. Tails was also having a hard time. Conis was faster than Sonic and Tails was finding it tough to dodge his attacks. Conis threw a running punch which tails dodged and followed up with a kick to the back of the head.  
Amy was now worried. Knuckles was having a boxing fight with Cheq which Cheq was winning, Tails was finding it hard to stay afloat and Sonic couldn't reach Whips. She had to do something. Amy pulled out her crossbow and fired a shot towards Whips. It caught 3 of his 4 tails and pinned him against the wall.  
The free tail suddenly reached over to Amy and smacked her across the face. Amy hit the floor and blacked out.  
Sonic ran over to the now unconscious Amy and pulled her behind a nearby box. He stroked the side of her face and went to help Tails. Conis laughed as he charged around Tails, hitting him with homing attacks and punches. Then, Conis felt a sharp point in his neck and flew across the room to Whips dangling feet.

"Need some help?" shouted Sonic to Tails who responded with a thumbs up.

Knuckles was losing badly. His face was was badly bruised and his right arm was aching. Cheq punched again knocking Knukcles to the floor. He brought his fist upwards and came slamming down with it, aiming for Knuckles skull. It never reached his head as Sonic flew into the back of Cheq with a homing attack and Tails grabbed Cheq in mid air and flung him into his minions. Cheq stood up and pulled the crossbow bolt that impaled Whips. Conis followed.

"You are good" said Cheq, "But you are nothing compared to our true power! CHAOS GRAVITY!"

Again Tails hit the floor and even Sonic and Knuckles could hardly move. It felt like they were wearing iron boots.

"CHAOS HAIL!" yelled Whips.

Hail stones the size of golf balls began to hit the trio and Tails caught one with his forehead. He went into a deep sleep. Knuckles managed to fight them off even with gravity working against him. Sonic did the same.

"CHAOS HYDRO!" yelled Conis.

Two geysers of water erupted from beneath them and flung Knuckles into a wall. He was also knocked out. Sonic managed dodge the water's onslaught and flung himself at Cheq in a homing attack.

"No time for this. Chaos Warp!" said Cheq.

Cheq and helpers disappeared and Sonic crashed into the wall. The last thing he remembered was the sound of laughing and then he slept.

**End of Chapter 2**


	4. Chapter Three: Return of a Friend

**Chapter 3: Return of a friend******

_Place: Station Square, Hospital  
Time: 5:00pm_

Sonic awoke and rubbed his head. He remembered fighting Cheq and then being knocked out by trying to attack Cheq. How stupid could he be? He followed this rhetorical question by sitting up in his bed. He was in a typical hospital ward. he saw no sight of Tails, Knuckles or Amy. Sonic then decided to get up and find them. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and proceeded to stand up. It was a bad idea.

"Sonic!"

Tails ran over to Sonic and stopped him from falling and then placed him back in the bed. Knuckles followed behind Tails.

"What were you trying to do?" said Tails," You need your rest".  
"I'm fine" replied Sonic.  
"Tails is right Sonic" Knuckles joined in the conversation, "You took a bad hit in that battle"  
"You took more" said Sonic.  
"But I'm stronger" Sonic cast Knuckles a glare and turned to Tails. "Where's Amy?"  
"She stayed at my workshop. She had to ring Cream as she wants to help us more" said Tails.  
"She did stop Whips, one of Cheq's minions"  
"How did he do that?" said Sonic.  
"He used the power of the emerald to create a helper but I think he had used them before" replied Knuckles.  
"I'm sure the tablets will tell us more. When I've deciphered them that is." followed Tails.  
"Come on. We better get to work on these tablets" said Knuckles. Tails nodded and followed Knuckles leaving Sonic to recover. He lied back and looked at the ceiling.  
_How could Cheq do all this? _thought Sonic We_ must stop him though. No matter what._

_Place: Unknown Temple  
Time: 5:05pm___

Cheq sat on his throne. The battle with Sonic and friends had taken more energy than he had first realised. He could no longer return to the world until he commanded more chaos. Looking at his hand he saw a deep red cut along his palm. It had begun healing normally due to the way the Echidnas body worked.

"Conis! Whips!" shouted Cheq covering his hand.

The hedgehog and the fox received the order and came to Cheq from coloured doors that showed their emerald colour. Whips bowed in front of Cheq but Conis merely nodded.

"I will need you two to return to the world and speak with Eggman. Tell him he must finalise his plan or face my wr..a.t"

Cheq faltered. His eyes returned to their normal colour before reverting back to teal and blue. He held his head.

"Sir?" questioned Whips.  
"Tell Eggman to hurry. Return here afterwards. Do not search for an emerald." said Cheq through his hand.  
"Why?" replied Conis, "We could easily take anyone in our way"  
"Because... They will receive the Green Emerald soon, Grey is nearby, Purple is in the hands of a young musician who will be easy to kill, I have blue and teal, yellow is in the desert and red is.." Again Cheq tailed off and Conis snorted. "You don't know do you?" said Conis.  
"No but I will find it" replied Cheq.  
"Please.." said Conis.  
"You have all the personality of that spike I copied you from and your friend also has the qualities of that fox"  
"But.." said Whips  
"You are loyal to me and do as I say"  
"Only when you are at full power. Until then we start to break from your control. Cheq"

Cheq threw his hand out in anger and smashed into the side of Conis face.

"I CREATED YOU AND CAN EASILY DESTROY YOU!!!" bellowed Cheq.

Conis stood up and Whips began to walk away towards his door. He motioned towards Conis to follow. Conis followed and watched his master return to his position. They disappeared through the door and vanished in a flash. Cheq returned to his peaceful state and relaxed.  
_I will create them all if only to give me fair chances. I knew it was a bad idea to copy the blue spikes and the fox data to create them but they will find some fight in them yet. The others will be more controllable. This Echidnas body is awful. As soon as I can return to true form I will throw away this body but return the spirit. it has already clouded my judgement and made me force my minions not to find another emerald. More chaos will silence it for now. Now I must watch as the Green Emerald falls into their hands... Just as I want._ Cheq proceeded to fall into a trance and watch night fall around him.

_Place: Tails workshop  
Time: 5:30pm___

Amy sat on the chair and leaned back looking at the stone tablet that was placed in front of her. She didn't like Cheq already as he nearly cost her Sonic and her life. He had the power to create helpers based on anyone. Like her.... She shook her head and ignored it. Amy picked up her crossbow and loaded up a bolt. Knuckles had left a can on the edge of the table. Perfect for target practice. She aimed and pulled the trigger only to watch the bolt bury itself in the side of the house. She took aim again and successfully hit the can and watched it fly off the table. Amy was so happy she threw her arms into the air and lost her balance on the chair she was on. She collided with the floor just as Tails and Knuckles walked in.

"What are you doing Amy?" asked Knuckles.  
"Nothing" she snapped back. Tails walked over to the tablet and returned to deciphering it.

Knuckles returned to his chair as Amy picked hers up.

"How's Sonic?" asked Amy.  
"He's fine. We told him to leave when he's ready" replied Tails.  
"That means he will have left a few minutes after us" said Knuckles.  
"Yep. But I hope he stays put for awhile as we all need to be at full strength to fight Cheq again." said Tails.  
"Found out anything yet?" said Amy.  
"No. We know he wants all the emeralds and can create helpers from each emerald."  
"He can also use chaos techniques" said Knuckles.  
"We only know Sonic can use Chaos control and that's it."  
"Lets just focus on getting as much info as possible and getting the chaos emeralds." Everyone agreed and returned to silence.

_Place: Mystic Ruins, Station  
Time: 6:00pm___

Sonic got off the train and winked at the group of fans who he had just given his autograph to. The group of girls nearly fainted as the train doors closed. Sonic began to walk towards Tails' workshop.

_I wonder if Tails has found anything out yet?_ thought Sonic as the clouds began to open and rain fell.

Sonic began to pick up the pace as he really didn't want to get wet and he reached Tails' workshop a few minutes later. Just before he walked in he looked up at the top of the ridge and saw a figure who was there one minute and gone the next.  
Sonic ignored this and walked in to meet his friends.

_Meanwhile..._

The figure watched Sonic walk into the house and smirked. Again he drew out the chaos emerald.

"Time to reveal myself" said the figure.

The figure disappeared in a flash of green light only to reappear at the bottom of the ridge. He began to walk towards the house in the rain.

Sonic entered the workshop and Amy was the first one to see him.

"SONIC!!" shouted Amy as she ran up to Sonic.

Amy hugged him tight and Sonic was about to push her off when he changed his mind. He was going to let have this one.

"Hi Amy. Hi guys" said Sonic calmly.  
"Are you sure you're ok Sonic? You still seem tired." asked Knuckles.  
"I'm fine" snapped Sonic, "Any new info Tails?"  
"Not yet but I'm sure I'll get some eventually" said the fox, sounding a bit disheartened.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. Sonic turned and opened the door to see nothing in front of him. The rain had begun to get very heavy now and it was thundering quietly in the distance. Sonic turned left and saw the figure from atop the ridge facing him standing in the rain.

"You ok out there?" shouted Sonic not expecting an answer.  
"Who is it Sonic?" asked Amy.

Sonic threw his hand out to tell Amy not to come any closer. She immediately took this hint and backed away.

"I'll be back in a minute guys" said Sonic winking.

Knuckles and Tails got up and ran to the window to see the figure but because of the angle all they could see was Sonic. Sonic advanced towards the figure in the rain which was heavy with the lighting that followed down into the sea. Thunder followed echoing from each step Sonic took. Finally, quite wet, Sonic stood opposite and close to the figure. The face of the hooded creature obscured by his hood and the dark.

"Can I help you?" asked Sonic

The figure merely reached out with his hand to reveal he had a green chaos emerald. Sonic stood in a fighting stance ready for battle.

"If that's you Cheq show your face"

Lighting struck close illuminating the figures face for a second and Sonic saw a calm but slightly evil smile.

"Fight me" said the figure, "Fight me for the emerald"

Sonic nodded and the figure also entered a fighting stance. Lighting struck between them beginning the battle at hand.

The figure leapt forward and threw out his leg at Sonics face. Sonic blocked and back flipped away aiming his legs at the persons face. The figure caught the blow to the face and flew backwards landing on his feet. Sonic spun and faced his opponent. Charging forward, Sonic released a barrage of punches which the figure easily blocked one by one. Sonic then proceeded to dropping to the ground and swinging his legs into the figures. Seeing this, the figure leapt into the air and came down with kick to Sonics head. Sonic took the blow and fell backwards. The figure regained his stance and again pulled out his emerald.

"Chaos Strike!"

Just like Cheq had done before, green swords appeared and lashed out at Sonic. Having now worked out this attack Sonic rolled left before jumping backwards to dodge the second sword. Then, something clicked in Sonics brain and he began to see the swords leave the chaos emerald and float towards him in slow motion. With this new found power Sonic dodged the next sword by leaning back and letting the horizontal slash go over him. Sonic then leapt into the air. To any other person this would look strange as there was no point but Sonic saw a chaos sword ready to strike. Sonic put his feet out just as the sword appeared and leapt off it and spun downwards into the figure knocking the emerald out of his hand. Sonic scrambled for the emerald as the figure reeled from the attack. Sonic grabbed the emerald and leapt up into the air. Sonic then realised he could now use that technique.

"Taste your own medicine! Chaos Strike!"

Again the swords leapt from the emerald towards the figure who had again returned to his fighting stance. The figure caught the first sword with his face but the second was caught by him and using this makeshift weapon he knocked away the other swords. Sonic landed and grabbed the final sword he had created and charged towards the figure who swung his sword. Using his speed, Sonic ducked the blow and lashed out at the hooded man who had begun to pant from tiredness. Sonics blade connected with the figures blade with such force that the figures blade shattered into energy that dissolved. The figure , now on the floor, tried to crawl away but Sonic placed his sword at the figures face.

"Who are you!?" yelled Sonic, rain dripping from him as the lighting struck again followed by thunder.  
"You are good... faker"

Sonic lowered the sword as the figure threw back his hood revealing his black and red spikes. Sonic nearly fell over with shock.

"You're dead?" said Sonic.  
"Dead is a strong word" said Shadow.

**End of Chapter 3**


	5. chapter four: Chaos: explained

**Chapter 4: Chaos: Explained**

_Place: Mystic Ruins, Tails Workshop_

_Time: 7:00pm_

Sonic entered the workshop and Amy ran up to him. Knuckles and Tails stayed on their chairs and waited to hear what had happened. Sonic said nothing but stepped aside and let Shadow enter. Amy nearly fainted, Knuckles just sat in shock and Tails fell off his chair. Shadow just smiled.

"Hi guys" he said in a calm voice.

"Hi" said Tails regaining his posture and picking up the chair.

"You're dead" followed Knuckles, snapping out of the shock.

"No. I didn't die. Guess I have some explaining to do." said Shadow.

"Right" said Sonic who had moved over to a nearby cabinet and rested on it.

Shadow walked over and Knuckles left his seat for him to sit down. Knuckles placed him on the corner of the worktop. Amy sat back in her chair and tried to listen. Shadow began.

"After fighting the Finalhazard me and Sonic used chaos control to halt ARK and stop it hitting Earth. Sonic used a weaker power to mine and so I had to use more energy to stop ARK. I used chaos control and found myself flying towards Earth as I had lost my super form. Suddenly, I was engulfed in chaos control and warped away."

"Where?" asked Sonic.

"Not where sonic but when. I found myself in the past. When the Echidna race was still prospering. I suddenly regained my super form and flew around as if the energy from the chaos emeralds had a deep hold on me. I then stopped and crashed into an Echidna. Ring any bells Knuckles?"

Knuckles stood confused and thought. He then realized that Shadow was the strange yellow creature he had bumped into all those years ago.

"You were that creature?!" said Knuckles.

"Yes. You took me in and healed me. When I felt strong enough I left and went into the forest. There I found a cave full of murals."

"Murals?" asked Tails.

"Yes. The exact one you have there on that desk. There were more but you haven't found them yet."

Tails looked at the murals and still he saw no writing.

"But I can't read them" said Tails.

"You can't but I could for some reason. They depicted a great evil. The evil of Chaos."

"Which part of him though as we have met chaos and the power." said Sonic.

"These murals depicted both. They showed there were two part of chaos. Chaos zero, who slept in the Master Emeralds altar, and the power which was banished and tossed aside into the world. Only when the emeralds, chaos zero, the power and the master emerald met could perfect chaos be shown. But first it must find a body."

"Cheq" murmured Knuckles.

"Yes. Cheq was walking in the forest that day and was taken over by the power. The person you are fighting is not your brother. Your brother is trying to break free. Now the power has a body he will try to absorb all the emeralds and chaos."

"But those attacks? How does he know chaos attacks?" asked Amy.

"He just does. He can pass them on to his minions he creates from the emeralds."

"We know," said Sonic," We've met Conis and Whips who are clones of me and Tails."

"He has to base them on creatures he has met. That takes some of his power."

"How does he get to future from the past?" said Knuckles.

"He uses a technique called chaos warp. You may have seen him use it. I know it as well as that is how I got back here."

"You know the chaos techniques!" said Amy.

"Only a few, I learnt them off the murals. The only problem with this power though is that it drains you to be in another world that is not your own. Cheq must warp back to the past in frequent intervals to regain his power."

Sonic tried to digest all the information he had just received. No matter how far-fetched he would believe it all.

"We need to find the emeralds then!" shouted Sonic.

"You're right Sonic," said Shadow, "I'll find them. Chaos Sense!"

A giant globe appeared from Shadows hand and on it appeared four little dots each one a different color. Shadow zoomed in on the nearest one.

"The closest emerald is in the possession of a young musician who has a pet Chao."

"That's Cream!" yelled Amy.

"Calm down Amy! Shall we go it now?" said Sonic.

"No. Cheq is still recovering. We could go after it in the morning"

"Sounds good to me," said Knuckles

"Ok. We set after the Purple emerald tomorrow.," said Sonic.

Everyone agreed and headed for bed to reflect upon what they had heard.

_Place: Past, temple_

_Time: 10:00am_

Cheq sat in his throne. They have received the emerald he thought. Good.

"Conis, Whips!"

Conis and Whips appeared and stood in front of their master. Cheq began to talk.

"The nearest emerald to them is the purple one in the hands of a young rabbit. Get me her emerald no matter what."

Conis and Whips nodded and warped to the future and Cheq sat down again,

"I will search for the chaos" he said and again resumed a trance.

**End of Chapter 4**


	6. Chapter 5: Melody of Chaos

**Chapter 5: Melody of Chaos**

_Place: Tails Workshop_

_Time: 10:00am_

Amy awoke and noticed that everyone was still fast asleep. Knowing they were tired from yesterday she left them and went into the main room of the Workshop. When she entered she saw Shadow stood at the window looking out at the sun that was hovering above the horizon. She approached and stood behind him looking at the sun.

"It's nice," said Amy.

Shadow turned slightly and looked at Amy before returning his gaze to the sunrise.

"I owe you one Amy," said Shadow

"Why?" said Amy, now confused.

"On ARK you talked to me and convinced me to fight for the better not for the worse. You reminded me so much of Maria. I thank you for that."

Amy nodded and turned to head back to her room. Shadow grabbed her arm and she turned.

"Thank you" said Shadow.

Amy smiled and returned to her room and Shadow returned to the hypnotic gaze of the new morning.

Later... 

Sonic woke up and headed to the main room where he found everyone up and eating breakfast. Sonic headed over to Amy who was on the phone.

"Who you ringing?" asked Sonic.

Amy slammed down the phone and turned to Sonic.

"I was trying to ring Cream but she's not at home. Where could she be?"

"I know where she is!" shouted Tails.

"Where?" said Knuckles.

"She's at the parade that starts later. She's playing on the main float at midday"

"Cheq will not come for this one," added Shadow," He'll send his minions"

"Conis and Whips" said Sonic.

Shadow nodded. Knuckles ran to the door followed by Tails.

"We'll take the train with Amy. You two go by Chaos control and get to her first." shouted Knuckles.

Amy got up and left through the door with Knuckles and Tails. Sonic and Shadow placed their hands on the emerald.

"You ready?" asked Shadow.

"I'm always ready!" shouted Sonic.

"CHAOS CONTROL"

Sonic and Shadow disappeared in a green light, which Amy saw from the station.

_Good luck_ she thought before boarding the train.

_Place: Station Square, Alley_

_Time: 11:45am_

Conis and Whips walked down the alley. Conis stopped and rested on a wooden box and Whips carried on.

"Where are you going?" asked Conis

"To find the rabbit," said Whips.

"Do you know where she is?"

Whips realized Conis was right and joined him on the box. Conis closed his eyes and relaxed.

"What are you doing?" said Whips.

"We were created from chaos energy that Cheq..."

Whips looked at Conis with a surprised look.

"...Our boss."

Whips nodded.

"That must mean we have his power and techniques. So I'm going to use chaos sense"

Whips watched as Conis created the world and lots of boxes of information popped up and it vanished. Conis stood up and began to walk away. Whips caught up.

"Do you know where she is?"

"This way"

Conis left the alley and Whips followed.

_Place: Station Square, Parade road_

_Time: 11:55am_

Sonic and Shadow arrived and landed near the parade. Sonic looked for the main float but Shadow saw it first. They headed towards the float and saw Cream climb in with Cheese.

"There she is!" shouted Shadow.

They headed off to the float and quickly climbed in before the door shut. The door closed and the float began to move. Sonic and Shadow ran up the stairs inside to the top of the float and walked out onto the deck of the float.

Meanwhile....

Conis and Whips turned the corner and saw the float with Cream on moving towards them and then they saw Sonic and Shadow on the deck heading for Cream.

"It's those losers!" said Whips.

"Let's beat them up and take the emerald!" said Conis.

Together, they jumped up onto the float and Cream began to play.

Suddenly, time seemed to stand still. Conis and Whips just stood as the melody floated through them. They felt serene and tranquil. They just stood. Shadow also felt quite serene. He felt like he was floating off the ground, like the melody was lifting him. Sonic grabbed Shadow who was very out of it.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Sonic.

Shadow just ignored him. Sonic let go of Shadow and walked up to Cream.

"Sonic!" she yelled and stopped playing.

Sonic saw the emerald in her violin as did Conis, Whips and Shadow who had been freed from the hold the melody had on them. Conis leapt for Cream but Shadow ran to stop him and punched him in the face. Cream backed away as Sonic and Shadow took fighting stances along with Conis and Whips.

"You won't stand a chance," said Whips.

"You forgot us!"

Tails flew in with Amy holding on and Knuckles leapt from the ground onto the deck of the float. Knuckles stood next to Sonic and Shadow and faced the minions.

"Amy! Tails! Take Cream away and guard that emerald!" shouted Shadow.

Tails grabbed Creams hand and lead her to the door while Amy opened the door to the inside of the float.

"You still won't win!" shouted Conis.

"Let's see, eh?" said Sonic.

**End of Chapter 5**


	7. Chapter 6: Battle Parade

Chapter 6: Battle Parade 

Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles stood facing Conis and Whips as the float turned a corner to be faced with a crowd of hundreds. The commentator began to speak:

_Welcome to the Station Parade to celebrate one year since the defeat of Eggman on day X! We would like to draw your attention to the main float where our musician, Cream, will be playin... What's going on? It seems that Sonic and Knuckles have joined us with.... Shadow?! Looks like there is some people about to fight them. Looks like we have a battle on our hands here!_

"They seem to be amazed to see me," said Shadow.

"You are dead" replied Sonic

"Point taken"

"Are we fighting or what?" shouted Conis.

Conis leapt forward and threw his fist at Sonic who blocked and followed with a kick. Shadow threw a punch towards Conis as well. Conis back flipped and dodged both attacks. Knuckles was dodging Whips barrage from his tails. Knuckles ducked at the wrong moment and caught a tail to the face and was thrown up into the air. Whips jumped up, following Knuckles, only to be greeted with a fist.

Tails and Amy meanwhile lead away Cream through the hustle of the parade. Cheese was finding it hard to keep up and dropped to the floor.

"Cheese!" shouted Cream

"I've got him!" yelled Tails who swooped down and picked him up.

Tails glanced to the float where Sonic was fighting. Tails landed next to Cream and gave her Cheese.

"Amy, look after Cream. I'm off to help Sonic!" said Tails.

Amy nodded and grabbed Creams hand and led her through the crowd while Tails flew back to the float.

Knuckles was winning easily as each punch he threw landed at its target. Whips was beginning to fell fatigued and glanced left and saw Cream with Amy. He lashed out at Knuckles and knocked him off balance.

"I'm going to get the rabbit!" shouted Whips.

"Ok" said Conis while Sonic was charging a spin dash.

Whips flew off while Conis grabbed Sonic in spin dash and threw him into Knuckles. Shadow saw Whips flying away and shouted to Sonic.

"I'll go after Whips"

Sonic, who was now standing, nodded and began to fight Conis again. Knuckles joined in. Shadow jumped off the float and chased after Whips who was not far ahead.

Conis took a break from the fight and rested while Sonic and Knuckles regained their stances.

"You are weak. When I rule the world.."

"You rule the world! I thought you worked for Cheq!" said Sonic

"Simple minds and simple thoughts" said Conis

"Your master won't like that Conis, after all, he can control you" followed Knuckles.

"To a certain extent"

Conis formed a globe in his hand.

"Shame you lose now not later" said Conis.

"Stop it Conis"

Tails kicked Conis square in the chin from the air and then followed with a flurry of punches, which dealt heavy damage. Tails landed next to Sonic and helped him up. Knuckles was already standing.

"Thanks Tails! That was brilliant," said Sonic who then slapped Tails on the back.

Conis was not finished and stood up.

"Time to use some chaos then"

_Meanwhile..._

Amy led Cream through the alleys and turned round the next corner to face a brick wall. She turned to go another way to see Whips in her way. Whips outstretched his hand.

"Emerald please, and I'll let you live"

Cream grasped her violin and Amy raised her hammer.

"You'll have to get it then" she yelled and charged forward.

Whips dodge the strike of the hammer and punched her in the face. Amy, not phased, brought the hammer down again only to miss and receive another punch. For a final time she raised her hammer and threw it down again missing. This time, however, there was no punch as Whips had turned and faced the new fighter.

"You should never hit a lady Whips," said Shadow stepping forward.

Whips stood fast and faced the enemy and talked.

"I can sense your chaos energy," said Whips, "Wanna use it?"

Shadow produced his emerald and Whips looked at it.

"Two for one" said Whips.

Shadow attacked first with a kick which Whips ducked and jumped into the air.

"Chaos Gravity" said Whips.

Shadow, who new many chaos moves, dodged the wave of energy and followed with another attack.

"Chaos Whirlwind"

Shadows attack hit Whips who flew backwards and landed on his back. Whips fired another Chaos gravity, which missed Shadow who again used Whirlwind, which missed and Whips jumped into the air.

"Chaos Charge"

Whips glowed and ran towards Shadow and unloaded lots of punches followed by a kick to the gut. This took Shadow by surprise and each hit landed and Shadow was flung away. Whip, with his new speed, ran over to cream and ripped the emerald from her violin and headed back to Conis.

Sonic, Knuckles and Tails were being held by Chaos Gravity and being hit by continual chaos strikes. Whips appeared and Conis nodded.

"See you later" said Conis

Together, they disappeared and the gravity broke. They all stood up and Shadow also arrived with Amy and Cream.

"They got the emerald," said Shadow.

"That's three," said Tails.

"We have to find the next one," said Knuckles.

Everyone nodded, including Cream who had no idea what they were on about. Everyone joined hands. Shadow held the emerald and yelled the commands and they all vanished in a light leaving the crowd in silence.

_Place: Past, temple_

_Time: 1:00pm_

Conis and Whips entered and Whips presented the emerald to his master. Conis, however, leant against a post and chewed some gum he found.

"Here master" said Whips.

Cheq grabbed the emerald and absorbed the power. He than began to create another minion.

The purple light formed a rose which glowed red before dying and burning away to show a female hedgehog with orange fur and a blue dress and headband. Her sneakers were a bright white and her eyes glowed purple with a purple emerald on her forehead.

"Hello Thorn" said Cheq.

**End of Chapter 6**


	8. Chapter 7:Attacks of Chaos

**Chapter 7: Attacks of Chaos**

_Place: Tails Workshop_

_Time: 1:10pm_

The group, now including Cream and Cheese, sat down as Amy went to make everyone a drink. Sonic sat and nursed his arm, which had been cut in the battle, and Tails rested his leg. Cream stood up from her seat and went up to Tails.

"Mr Tails? Do you have a first aid kit?" asked Cream.

Tails nodded and pointed to the cupboard. Cream whispered to Cheese and the chao floated over and grabbed the box in the cupboard and floated back. Cream opened the box and got to work bandaging Tails leg. She then moved over to Sonic and did the same to his arm. She then turned to Shadow but his wounds, a cut lip and a sprained arm, were miraculously healed.

"How'd you do that?" said Knuckles, while Cream helped him with a cut chin.

"I healed myself using chaos," said Shadow.

"Those minions are too strong" said Amy, bring round the drinks.

"Tell me something I don't know," said Sonic.

"They have another emerald and probably another minion" said Tails.

"I know that," said Sonic.

"There is one way to beat them," said Shadow.

"How?" said Knuckles?

"You could learn some chaos techniques"

Everyone turned to Shadow and stopped what they were doing.

"You could do that?" said Tails.

"He's right. I learned Chaos strike," said Sonic.

"When?"

"When we battled"

"How did you learn it then?" said Knuckles.

"Sonic learned Strike because the attack has been used on him so many times he can see the attack and dodge it," said Shadow.

"We must be near learning some then after all the attacks we've received," said Tails.

Shadow nodded, "That's right"

Sonic stood up and headed for the door.

"Let's go learn some chaos techniques then!"

Shadow nodded and left to the plateau outside and everyone followed.

Everyone had gathered while Shadow prepared. He turned and faced the group with his chaos emerald in hand. He walked left and placed it on the ground before returning.

"Everyone step forward in turn to learn your attack," said Shadow.

Amy stepped forward first.

"Chaos Whirlwind" she said.

Shadow nodded and turned to his stance, as did Amy. Shadow leapt forward at Amy but she used her speed to dodge. Shadow turned and jumped into the air and began the lesson.

"Chaos Whirlwind!"

The attack flung Amy into the air and she landed on the ground. She returned to her stance.

"Chaos Whirlwind!"

The next attack caught Amy's left side as she tried to dodge and spun her in the air before again dropping her. Sonic nearly shouted at Shadow to stop but Knuckles held him back.

"Chaos Whirlwind!"

This time, Amy saw the whirlwind leave Shadows hand and so she jumped left as the attack completely missed her. Shadow fired again and Amy who used a zigzag pattern to dodge the next whirlwind and hit Shadow with her hammer dodged the attack. Shadow nodded at Amy as she returned to the workshop, now one technique up.

Tails was next. He asked to be taught the Chaos Gravity attack. Shadow only had to attack twice before tails saw the nature of the attack and dodge through the hole in the wave of the attack. He returned to the workshop as Knuckles stood up to learn Chaos Hail. After on attack Knuckles learned that if he wanted to dodge the attack he should just attack repeatedly and smash all of the hail.

Sonic and Cream remained. Cream stepped forward and Shadow shook his head.

"You're too weak" said Shadow.

"I'm not!" she shouted," I want to learn an attack my mom knows"

"What's that?"

"Chaos Melody"

"I know it but you know it already. You played it on you're violin."

"I want to know the attack"

Shadow sighed but agreed to teach the move.

"Chaos melody"

Cream immediately dodge left as musical notes echoed from Shadows hand towards her but she saw the attack and pulled her violin out and used it to return the notes to Shadow which hit him hard. Shadow stood up and nodded.

"Told you" said Shadow.

Cream smiled and left for the workshop. Only Sonic remained. Shadow stopped him before he spoke.

"There is a technique I want you to learn. Chaos Warp"

"Why?" said Sonic.

"Because you'll use it well" said Shadow.

Shadow picked up the emerald and gave it to Sonic.

"Look into the emerald and learn"

Sonic looked into the emerald and stared. Nothing appeared at first but slowly colors began to explode towards him, filling him with all the joy and sadness of time. He saw the dinosaurs, knights and then a picture of the world with points highlighted in a grey glow. Then, Shadow appeared and brought him back. Sonic was on the floor now. Shadow helped him up.

"I thought you were ready but I guess I was wrong" said Shadow.

"Well, at least I've got chaos strike"

Shadow nodded and they returned to the workshop.

Shadow and Sonic entered and everyone was sitting round the room. Sonic sat down as well but Shadow remained standing up.

"What will Cheq go for next?" asked Tails.

"Cheq will need chaos now as his power will be weak in the past and present," said Shadow.

"Last time I heard Tikal and Chaos were in Miami" said Knuckles.

"Miami it is then!" said Amy, "I can work on my tan"

"The next emerald however is in the desert, Cheq will send Conis and co after it" said Shadow.

"Then, who'll go after that?" asked Cream.

"I will" said Tails.

"What?" said Sonic.

"Me too" said Amy.

"Amy?"

"If Tails is going I'm going" said Cream.

"Then it's settled. Sonic Knuckles and me will go for the emerald while Tails, Cream and Amy will go get chaos" said Shadow.

"But Amy, Cheqs power...."

"I'll be fine. I've got Tails haven't I?" she said smiling.

Sonic nodded as Tails, Cream and Amy left for the airport. Shadow, Sonic and Knuckles created a circle and Shadow pulled out his emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

The group left for the desert to find the next emerald.

_Place: Past, temple_

_Time: 2:00pm_

Conis, Whips and Thorn stood around as Cheq had gone to prepare for the last hour. Conis just chewed his gum and Whips was sat on a fallen pillar. Thorn went up to Conis.

"You don't like Cheq do you?" she asked.

"He just not a master I was expecting" said Conis.

"Me neither but live with it ok?"

Conis nodded and smiled. Thorn smiled back. Cheq suddenly appeared from the back of the chamber and the minions gathered. Cheq was looking tired and the glow in his eyes, now teal, blue and purple was faint.

"I am off to get chaos. You three must head into the desert and claim the yellow emerald" said Cheq.

Everyone agreed and disappeared in light. Cheq also warped away leaving the temple empty.

**End of Chapter 7**


	9. Chapter 8:Underdogs Vs Champion

**Chapter 8: Underdogs Vs Champion**

_Place: Lab, Miami_

_Time: 2:45pm_

Tikal carried a pile of samples over to the microscope that Chaos was examining.

_Tikal the Echidna and Chaos are two friends that have not been seen in a while. Tikal helped Sonic and friends battle Chaos a while ago and calmed him down. Now they live in Miami and are trying to find a way to cure diseases using chaos._

Tikal placed the tubes down on the side and joined Chaos at the microscope.

"Is it multiplying?" asked Tikal.

"Yes, I'm afraid," said Chaos

"Next sample then?"

"Please"

Tikal picked up the next sample and handed it to Chaos. Chaos took the sample and was about to place it in the microscope when he felt a sudden surge of energy. He dropped the sample and fell backwards. Tikal leapt to the rescue and grabbed Chaos before he hit the floor.

"Are you ok?"

"I just felt a sudden surge of chaos. It can't be..."

Suddenly, there was knock on the door. Tikal helped Chaos to a chair before answering the door. Tails, Amy and Cream were there.

"Tails! Amy! What are you doing here!" said Tikal.

"It's not a social visit" said Amy.

"We're here to see Chaos" said Tails.

"Yeah" followed Cream.

"And you are?" asked Tikal.

"Cream pleased to meet you"

"I'm Tikal"

Cream and Tikal shook hands while Amy and Tails went over to Chaos.

"How are you?" asked Tails.

"You're here about the power" said Chaos.

"That's right" said Tails, a bit shocked to know that he already knew.

"You know him then?" said Amy.

"I cast him aside long ago after he nearly forced me to end a life in cold blood" said Chaos.

"What do you know about him then?" asked Amy when Cream and Tikal joined them.

"He is a being of chaos and I guess he is after me and the emeralds" said Chaos.

"He also has some helpers" said Cream.

"Yes. He must have absorbed the emeralds then."

"He has three" said Tails.

"He needs me to keep his energy and keep himself in a solid form" said Chaos.

"Were here to keep you safe and get any info you have on him" said Amy.

"I can do that" said Tikal.

"We know you're strong Tikal but Cheq is really powerful" added Tails.

"Cheq? Knuckles brother?"

"You know him?" said Amy.

"He was a really nice guy. He helped me when I was in trouble and then one day he just disappeared"

"So my power has possessed a Echidna" said Chaos.

Tails nodded.

"Then there is a way to defeat him"

"How?" said Cream.

"Cheq will be weak to the emeralds that he has absorbed. They are the key to defeating him"

"Use the absorbed emeralds against him?"

"Correct"

"But..."

An explosion and the door flying off its hinges and nearly smacking him in the face rudely interrupted tails. Cheq strolled in. His fur now dull and the glow in his eyes almost completely vanished. Tails, Amy and Cream immediately went into a fighting stance and shouted to Tikal.

"Tikal you have to guard Chaos!"

Tikal nodded and helped Chaos into the back of the room. Tails began the attack with a rushing kick wish Cheq dodged by leaping in the air and bringing his leg down into Tails face. Tails reeled backwards and Amy smashed her hammer into the side of Cheqs head. Cream, meanwhile was preparing her violin to play the melody. Cheq saw this and backhanded Amy across the room before facing Cream.

"Chaos Strike!"

The blade appeared but faded just before it hit Cream. Cheq's power was fading fast and he needed Chaos. Cheq flew across the room on his feet and punched the violin out of Creams hand just before she played. Cream kicked out at Cheq and caught him in the ribs. Cheq shrugged this off and punched Cream in the face, which put her down. Amy fired a bolt across the room just missing Cheqs head. Cheq ignored her as she fired two more bolts and each one just missed by an inch. Tails saw Cheq running for the back room and prepared his attack.

"Chaos Gravity!"

Cheq heard this and did a sideward roll through the hole in the attack and then narrowly missed another bolt from Amy. Cheq opened the door to the back room and saw Tikal with Chaos. Tails and Amy charged towards the room but Cheq fired another chaos strike, which succeeded in knocking them down. Cheq now faced Tikal who had a look of anger in her eyes to protect her friend. Cheq launched a punch, which Tikal caught before raising her leg and smashing Cheq in the face and flinging him across the room. Tikal charged towards him only to be meeting with a fist and a foot. Cheq then grabbed her by the neck and throwing her away.

Chaos was now open for attack and Cheq plunged his hand into Chaos and absorbing him on the spot. Chaos drained away from the world and into Cheqs fist. Tikal screamed out in pain as Cheqs eyes glowed bright again and so did his fur. Cheq laughed out in pleasure and blew the door and wall off the back room into the lab where Tails and Amy were still recovering. He grabbed Tikal and threw her into the pair and again cackled with laughter.

"I'm back! You put up a good fight but you are all weaklings in the end" shouted Cheq, "Now, after I have claimed the emeralds and the Master Emerald the only thing in my way will be the one full of Chaos"

During this short speech, Tails had stood up and charged towards Cheq with his fists. Cheq saw this and smashed his foot into his gut. Tails landed with a thump in the corner.

"Got to go!"

Cheq swirled round and vanished in a flash. Amy stood up along with Tails and Cream but Tikal stayed on the floor.

"Are you ok?" asked Amy.

"Save Chaos. Please." said Tikal.

"Ok. We better get to Sonic and tell him that Cheq got Chaos" said Tails.

Amy and Cream nodded and followed Tails out of the room. Tikal sat in the mess of a lab and began to pray.

**End of Chapter 8**


	10. Chapter 9:Base of Tricks

**Chapter 9: Base of tricks**

_Place: Desert_

_Time: 3:00pm_

The sun shone down on the desert as Sonic climbed to the top of a sand dune. Knuckles followed along with Shadow. Shadow stood and faced the pyramid that lie about a mile away.

"Are you sure it's there?" asked Knuckles.

"Positive" said Shadow.

"That's Eggmans old base! We know that place like the back of our hands" boasted Sonic.

"But can you get there before me?" asked Shadow.

"You're on!" said Sonic speeding away.

Shadow chased after Sonic at speed and Knuckles also followed, trying his best to keep up.

_Place: Pyramid_

_Time: 3:02pm_

Sonic arrived just before Shadow with Knuckles following about 30 seconds later.

"Told you I could beat you!" said Sonic.

"I'm out of shape. That's all" replied Shadow.

"Wow. This place has gone under" said Knuckles.

The pyramid was now derelict. Spiders had grown their webs between the rafters and Scorpions adorned the floor before scuttling away from the heroes. Sonic lead Shadow and Knuckles into the pyramid.

"Where did Eggman go after ARK?" asked Shadow.

"No one knows" said Knuckles.

"Good riddance I say" said Sonic.

"Here, here" replied both Knuckles and Shadow.

Shadow suddenly stopped in his tracks. Sonic and Knuckles turned and faced him.

"What's wrong?" asked Knuckles.

"I sense Chaos. Near." said Shadow.

"It better not be those idiots again" said Sonic.

"I could do with a fight" said Knuckles.

As if they were activated by Knuckles words, A small platoon of robots awakened from the walls. The cobwebs have covered them so well that they took the group completely by surprise. Shadow was the first to react; throwing a strong punch into the nearest robot and ripping out his control panel. Knuckles grabbed the leg of one of the robots and swung it into the others, knocking most of them down. Sonic was busy with a stronger robot but easily smashed him by ramming into his head. The last few robots noticed that they were losing and retreated. Sonic was puzzled.

"Have you ever seen Eggmans robots retreat?" said Sonic.

"No. But at least we don't waste any more time with them" said Shadow.

Everyone agreed and they carried on. A few more dusty corridors later Shadow shook his head and nearly fainted.

"Shadow!" yelled Sonic and grabbed him before he fell.

"Are you alright?" said Knuckles.

"Fine. The chaos is stronger though" said Shadow.

"Shall we keep going?" said Sonic.

"Yes" replied Shadow standing up.

Together, they carried on until they saw three robots. The remains of the small ambush.

"Hey you!" yelled Sonic.

Sonic chased one of the robots into another corridor and the blast door slammed behind him.

"Sonic!" shouted Knuckles who began to bang on the door.

"Quick! Down this corridor. We might meet him!" said Shadow.

Knuckles and Shadow headed down the remaining corridor but Shadow hit some loose ground and fell down a pit.

"ARGGHHH!" yelled Shadow.

"Shadow!"

Knuckles reached out for Shadow but missed his arm and then watched him fall into the dark pit. Knuckles lowered his head. Both of his friends lost. Knuckles, unfazed, decided to carry on to the center of the base.

Sonic ran down the hallway. He had heard the doors slam behind him so he decided to carry on. After a few minutes Sonic reached an open pathway that reminded him of a past race he had taken.

"This reminds me of something.." said a puzzled Sonic.

He took a few steps forward and suddenly lasers shot down behind him from an eggman pod and moved forward. Sonic then remembered what this was.

"This is starlight speedway!" he yelled.

Sonic made a start straight away and began to run. The laser sped up and followed closely behind. Sonic kept going and leapt over the spikes that zoomed past. He then reached a chasm and homing attack across the gap using the strategically placed robots. The Sonic went round a loop and his head spun. It had been a while since he last did this. The final obstacle in his way was a huge chasm with no robots. Sonic increased his speed and flew across the gap. The pod had reached the end of the line and dropped into the chasm before exploding in an array of colors. Sonic slowed down but kept going along the hall, hoping to meet his friends.

Knuckles walked along the corridor. So far he had meet three dead ends and a chasm all which blocked his path. This new corridor was different but ended the same way. Dead-end. Knuckles was getting tired now. He wasn't sure if he had been one way or the other. Left, right, left, dead end. Right, left, right, dead end. Knuckles began to quicken his pace. He had to escape, find a way out, anything. Knuckles felt the walls close in but his imagination was tricking him. Another dead-end, another increase of speed. Knuckles were in a state now and were panicking. He eventually snapped and screamed:

"CHAOS HAIL!"

Hail flew all around and smashed the walls to pieces. Knuckles walked through the hall and found a corridor with the word 'exit' placed in it. Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief and carried on.

Shadow awoke to find himself deep in a pit, which looked like a coliseum. In front of him was a robotic clone of Sonic. Its blue metal and red eyes glowed furiously with the light from the spotlight. Shadow got ready for an attack. Shadows guess was correct as the robot rushed forward and punched Shadow. Shadow got hit but punched the robot in the head. The robot swung left dodging it and began to speed round the room. Shadow smiled and began to chase.

The robot was ahead of Shadow and fired two plasma rounds from his arm but Shadow jumped and flipped mid air dodging the two blasts and landing in front of the robot.

"Dodge this! Chaos Strike!"

The sword appeared but the strong robot grabbed the sword and snapped it in half before rugby tackling Shadow to the ground. The robot was about to strike when Shadow grabbed the head of the sword and rammed it through the robot body where the neck should have been. The robot dropped like a stone as the door in the back opened. Shadow stood up and brushed himself off before leaving. Before he left the robot spoke:

"We are the Metallix. We will destroy y....o..u"

Shadow ignored this and headed down the dim hall.

Shadow appeared on one side of a junk pile. Sonic and Knuckles had already met and saw Shadow.

"You're alive!" said Knuckles.

"Yeah. But I just met this robot..." said Shadow.

"I was in a maze" said Knuckles.

"I just re-ran Starlight Speedway" said Sonic.

"This place is weird" followed Knuckles.

"We agree"

The group turned round to see Conis, Whips and Thorn stood there. Sonic ran forward.

"Amy! What are you doing here and why is you fur orange?"

"I'm Thorn. Not your weakling girlfriend" said Thorn.

Sonic retreated.

"Why are you here!?" asked Shadow.

"To get the emerald. Same as you" shouted Conis.

"Then let's fight!" yelled Knuckles.

Everyone turned to their battle stances and was about to attack when suddenly a giant Sonic robot burst from the junk pile. It glowed a bright yellow and its eyes glowed a bright red. Its claws were like branches and the jet pack was along his back. Inside the panel on his front was the yellow emerald.

"I AM NEO-METALLIX. WELCOME TO YOUR GRAVE!"

**End of Chapter 9**


	11. Chapter 10: When Good joins Evil

**Chapter 10: When Good joins evil...**

Sonic, Conis, Tails, Whips, Shadow and Thorn stood facing Neo-M wondering what was going on.

"Give me that emerald!" shouted Sonic, snapping out of the trance.

"MY POWER SOURCE IS MINE. YOU WILL ALL DIE HERE. COME FORTH MY HELPERS."

From the junk pile behind him loads of robots burst forth towards the group attacking madly. Sonics group all jumped backwards towards the left exit and Conis and co jumped towards the right. Sonic smashed one Metallix into another before heading down the tunnel behind him. Shadow again called a Chaos Sword and began to slice the necks of the Metallixes near him. Knuckles grabbed one by the head and smashed it into a nearby pillar, which bent the pillar but did no damage to the Metallix.

"I hate these things!" yelled Knuckles.

"Come on!" said Shadow heading down the tunnel.

On the other side, Conis was halfway down the tunnel smashing the robots with a metal girder he picked up a few feet back. After crushing one into the ground he swung the bar again and crushed the Metallix into the wall. Whips was in the air hitting them with his tails to knock them back. Thorn saw a Metallix who was lost she walked up to him and fluttered her eyelids. The Metallix couldn't take this and exploded

"They don't make them like they used to" said Thorn heading further down the tunnel.

Sonic and the gang had reached the other end of the tunnel after beating wave after wave of Metallix. Conis and his group arrived a few seconds later. In a break in the attacks the groups met.

"We can't go on like this" said Shadow.

"I guess we'll have to agree" said Conis.

"There's another tunnel. Let's go down there!" shouted Thorn.

"Let's go then" said Knuckles.

Suddenly, a Metallix leapt from nowhere and was about to impale Sonics head with the spear he held. Instead of doing this however, the robot dropped to the ground lifeless.

"Looks like you need some help"

Rouge the bat went back to the government and resigned after beating Final Hazard. Since then she has indulged in treasure hunting and stealing things. She is now wanted for stealing a electrical bomb from a lab.

"Rouge!" shouted Knuckles.

"Who else?" she said confidently.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sonic.

"There's a jewel here and I came to get it. But these robots attacked so I'm using my bomb here to shut them down"

"Nice to see you Rouge" said Shadow.

"Shadow?"

Rouge ran forward and hugged him tightly. Conis shook his head.

"They show so much emotion" he said.

"And we don't?" said Whips

Rouge split from Shadow and held out the bomb.

"Further down there's a generator that provides power to the base and the robots. If we blow the bomb there we can shut them down" said Rouge.

Shadow pushed the bomb into her.

"You do it" said Shadow.

Rouge nodded and then another wave of Metallix appeared and began to attack. Conis and his group headed down the tunnel and Sonic followed with everyone else. The tunnel was long but with no Metallix in it, it was easy to make it to the generator. When they got there though, Neo-M was waiting for them.

"YOU ARE GOOD BUT PLEASE HAND OVER THE BOMB"

"Fat chance!" shouted Conis

"You're going down!" said Sonic.

"WEAKLINGS. YOU STILL CANNOT BEAT ME!"

Neo-M reared up ready to attack.

"Rouge, go to the generator and set the bomb. We'll distract him!" said Shadow.

Rouge nodded and headed for the generator.

Neo-M began his attack on Sonic. Neo-Ms hand lashed at Sonics face but Sonic blocked it as Knuckles punched from behind. Neo-M leapt up and landed behind Knuckles and slammed his foot into Knuckles back sending him into Sonic and then a wall. Shadow and Conis buried their hatchet and attack from the air and ground. Shadow charged a spin dash while Conis jumped using a spin dash and aimed at Neo-ms head. He jumped into the air and grabbed Conis arm and swung him into the floor into the oncoming spin dash from Shadow.

Thorn, the only one now standing, whipped out her mallet. She headed towards Neo-M. Neo slashed at Thorn who ducked under the blow and slammed her mallet into Neo-Ms metal chest. Neo wobbled back and Thorn leapt forward for another blow. Neo was now ready and slid to the side dodging the blow and then smashed his hand into the back of Thorns head. Thorn flew across and hit the wall. Shadow had recovered and began to attack by running past and punching at the same time. Neo-M fired his jets and smoke filled the room being swirled around by Shadow. The smoke now formed a tornado, which Shadow found himself pulled up into, and then he hit the floor from a height.

Rouge tapped the bomb and placed it on the generator wall. She was about to push the detonator when Neo-M appeared from behind and grabbed Rouge by her neck. Neo lifted her high into the air and began to tighten his grip. Rouge was beginning to choke. Her air escaping from her gasping mouth. This was it.... The... end.....

"Get off her you creep!"

Tails slammed his foot into the robots leg and he dropped Rouge to the floor. Cream leapt on top of Neo and began to smash him on the head with her fists. Amy was the last to get her hands dirty by jumping into the air and grabbing onto a swinging hook before swinging off and smashing her hammer down onto the robots head which Cream had just jumped off. Neo-M, his eyes now golden with rage, ran over to Tails and slammed his head into a metal board and then headed for Cream. Amy loaded a bow and fired it towards the robots neck. Neo caught the bolt and bent it in half. Neo was on top of Cream about to strike.

"Do you want your circuits fired or extra crispy?" shouted Rouge with her finger on the button.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" yelled Neo charging back but he was too late.

Rouge slammed her fist onto the charge and a wave of electrical light shot out deactivating all robots in the vicinity. Neo-M collapsed at Rouges feet now deactivated. Rouge turned over the now junk metal and removed the yellow emerald from his chest. She walked over to a now walking Tails and gave it to him.

"You want this then?" said Rouge.

"Thank you" said Tails, "Come with us!"

"Any more jewels?" she said.

"Maybe" said Amy.

"I'm in then!" she shouted.

"Then we hope you can fight!" said Conis next to Whips and Thorn.

"You can't have the emerald" said Cream.

"Yes. We will" said Whips.

Tails bent down and picked up Shadows emerald that was laying on the floor next to him. Tails stood back up and threw the emerald up into the air.

"Let's rock!"

Amy leapt over Tails and grabbed the emerald.

"Chaos Whirlwind!"

Conis and Thorn managed to avoid the attack but Whips got caught and was flung high into the air. Amy threw the emerald to Tails who began his attack.

"Chaos Gravity!"

Conis and Thorn were grabbed by the wave and then the emerald was thrown to Cream who also attacked.

"Chaos Melody!"

Notes echoed from the emerald and hit Conis and Thorn badly and Whips headed towards Cream. Rouge intercepted him and punched him hard in the ribs. Whips hit the floor. The group headed together to the door with both emeralds.

"Guess you can't beat us then!" shouted Rouge.

"I CAN THOUGH"

Neo-M had reawakened from his slumber and smashed Cream with a delayed blow. He then picked up the green emerald held by Creams hand and flew into the air. Tails leapt for him but missed and then Neo-M fired his jets and smashed through the roof. Conis and co got up from the beating. They then disappeared without a word.

"Damn! They got the emerald!" shouted Tails.

"What?" said Sonic who had recovered along with Knuckles and Shadow.

"That robot got the green emerald but we got the yellow" said Amy.

"Let me see that emerald" said Shadow.

Shadow grabbed the emerald and held it for a minute. He then threw the emerald to the floor.

"What's wrong?" said Knuckles.

Shadow turned and began to leave and everyone followed leaving the metallix behind.

_Place: Egg Carrier 3_

_Time: 4:15pm_

Cheq stood on the bridge of the egg carrier with Eggman beside him. An air lock opened and in walked Neo-M followed by Conis, Whips and Thorn. Neo-M went over to Eggman and bowed. He then held out the green and yellow Chaos Emerald.

"Can't believe he was set up to delay Sonic and his friends" said Conis.

"I don't trust this Eggman" said Whips.

"Me neither" said Thorn.

"MASTER. HERE ARE THE EMERALDS. SONIC WAS COMPLETELY FOOLED BY THE FAKE EMERALD" said Neo-M.

"Thank you Neo. Here you are Cheq" said Eggman.

Cheq grabbed both emeralds and began to absorb both and then began to create two new minions.

The green emerald fired a bean which formed a moon and then leaked onto the floor. The light swirled upwards and formed the look-a-like of Shadow with white fur and green quills. He also had black boots. The other beam of yellow light formed a rabbit shape and then created a copy of Cream. Her fur was a bright gold with silver slashes. She also had a dark chao on her shoulder.

"Welcome to the ranks Illuminum and Milk" said Cheq as Milk and Illuminum bowed.

"There is still one emerald in the world" said Eggman.

"You think I don't know that" snapped Cheq.

"Where is it then?" said Conis.

"I will use this ship to extend my power and scan a wider area. I want you and the rest to go fight the blue blur and his helpers to distract them" said Cheq.

"Using us as cannon fodder?" said Iluminum.

"You will be more polite to your master"

Iluminum retreated.

"Now go" said Cheq.

The group vanished leaving Cheq alone with Eggman and Neo-M. Neo-M began to leave when Eggman stopped him and pulled him to one side.

"You can scan the area quicker than Cheq. Search for that emerald" said Eggman.

"YES MASTER" said Neo-M before retreating to his power source.

Eggman smiled menacingly.

**End of Chapter 10**


	12. Chapter 11: Battle of the Clones

**Chapter 11: Battle of the Clones**

_Place: Mystic Ruins, Tails Workshop_

_Time: 4:45pm_

Everyone was gathered around Shadow. He was resting and using Chaos sense to find the next emerald.

"It's been 10 minutes. He must have found it by now" said Sonic.

"It's not that easy" said Knuckles.

"What would you know Echidna?" said Rouge.

Knuckles scowled at Rouge.

"I can't believe that the yellow emerald was a fake" said Amy.

"How did Neo-M make a fake emerald? And why would he want the emeralds?" said Cream.

"We have to think that someone else is behind this" said Tails.

"Who?" said Knuckles.

"Eggman" said Sonic.

"Of course! It makes perfect sense!" said Tails, "Who could build a Metallix and set it up in the base"

"Before we deal with Eggman we need to deal with Cheq" said Knuckles.

Shadow stood up from a kneeling position.

"I can't find the emerald" said Shadow.

"What?!" said Tails.

"It isn't on the this planet. It must be on another or in space"

"How do we find it then?" said Rouge.

Shadow turned to Knuckles.

"Knuckles. You must use the Master Emerald"

"How? I locked it away with the chaos seal I built" he followed.

"All you have to do is place your hand on the seal and use Chaos sense. This will search the entire universe" said Shadow.

"But I don't know Chaos sense"

Shadow placed his hand on Knuckles shoulder. Knuckles felt a sudden surge of energy into his body from Shadow and then it stopped. Sonic and the rest of the group hadn't noticed anything but Shadow knew he had succeeded.

"Use Chaos sense to find that emerald"

Knuckles nodded.

"Take the Tornado" said Tails throwing Knuckles the keys.

"I'll go too" said Rouge.

"You!" said Knuckles.

"You'll need someone to watch you're back" she said, before walking into the hanger.

Knuckles waved bye to everyone and followed Rouge. Just after Knuckles, there was a knock at the door. Sonic went up and answered it. Stood on the plateau was Conis, Whips, Thorn, Iluminum and Milk.

"Guys" said Sonic calmly.

Everyone went outside and joined Sonic. They headed down to the plateau and faced their counterparts.

"What do you guys want?" asked Sonic.

"To fight you" said Conis.

"You know you'll lose" said Tails.

"Please" said Whips.

"We know Chaos moves as well" shouted Amy.

"That's not enough" said Thorn.

"Oh yes it is!" shouted Cream.

"We can beat you easily" said Milk.

"You're just trying to stop us searching aren't you?" asked Shadow.

"You are powerful" said Iluminum.

"You don't want to fight us. You're just buying time" said Sonic.

"Time already spent" said Shadow, pointing to the Tornado flying past with Knuckles and Rouge.

"We have to stop them!" said Whips, about to fly off.

"Stop Whips! We will end this now. One -on-one. Each versus their own" said Conis.

"Sounds fair" said Sonic.

Everyone broke off facing their clone in their own arena of the plateau. Conis and Sonic faced each other in the centre.

"We both now we are as fast as each other so lets fight differently" said Conis.

"What do you suggest?" he asked.

Conis created a chaos sword next to him.

"Catch my drift?"

Sonic created a Chaos sword as well.

"I'm impressed. But you need technique as well as power"

"Then show me your power" said Sonic.

Together they both charged and collided their swords. Sonic threw a slash at Conis feet but he jumped and then slashed downwards. Sonic rolled left and lashed out at Conis ribs. The sword slightly connected but drew no blood. Conis, now angered, brought his sword to Sonics feet at which Sonic leapt and jumped of the sword before coming down with a downward thrust. Conis side-stepped and attacked with his sword at Sonics shoulder. This attack hit Sonic and he rolled down onto the floor, bleeding from the wound. Sonic wiped it clean before standing and facing his opponent.

"Not giving up?" asked Conis.

"Why should I?" said Sonic.

Sonic then ran in to begin the next round.

Tails and Whips had begun their fight almost immediately. They were both flying up higher and higher to beat each other and claim the advantage of height but they were as good as each other. When they had gone above the clouds they stopped and began the real fight.

Tails began to hurl kicks at Whips who dodged them expertly before giving one of his own which Tails grabbed and then threw Whips away. He recovered and charged for Tails who punched him down through the clouds. Whips didn't come back up for a while and then suddenly he charged upwards and punched Tails before retreating to the clouds. Tails realised he had given Whips the advantage.

Tails began to head under the clouds to find Whips but again he shot up and smashed Tails back into the air and away from the clouds. Tails tried again and only received a fist. Tails now tried a different tactic. He waited for Whips to strike. When Whips shot upwards tails slid to the side and grabbed Whips tails and got dragged under the clouds with him. Whips noticed Tails was on him and shook him off.

Tails then carried on the fight, now below the clouds.

Amy and Thorn faced each other near the edge of the plateau.

"I can't believe I was based on you" said Thorn.

"Do you think I'm thrilled?" said Amy.

Thorn pulled out her mallet and Amy pulled out her hammer. They begun the fight with Thorn jumping in the air and slamming down hard creating a shockwave of earth aimed at Amy. Amy jumped this and then formed one of her own which was dodged by Thorn. Amy leapt forward and whisked her hammer at Thorns head. Thorn blocked it and swung her mallet towards Amys ribs. This attack hit and Amy was flung off the edge of the plateau to the bottom. She turned and began to run back up.

Thorn, seeing this, tried to stop Amt by slamming down her mallet and creating mounds of earth that shot out of the ground. Amy dodged left to right and managed to avoid the mounds. Amy charged off the ramp and brought down her hammer hard on Thorns head which knocked her off balance and Amy followed up with a smash to the ribs which flung Thorn across the plateau edge.

"Think you can handle me!" shouted Amy.

Thorn stood up and began her rough attack at Amy.

Cream and Milk had drawn their violin and viola respectively and had begun to play a melody. This melody began slow but had begun to speed up over the last few bars of the melody. The melody created two things. It created a shield over them and also fired powerful musical notes at each other. If either of them failed to produce the correct note they would lose the duel and probably receive major damage.

Cream was going well. She was playing confidently and fairly. Her fingers and hand seemed to blur as the melody played. Milk was going from strength to strength and had not dropped a single note. As the music got faster, the shields got bigger and bigger and the musical notes got stronger and stronger.

Cream was beginning to feel the strain as the melody got faster and more complicated. Milk seemed to be fine though. Cream knew she couldn't let her friends down. She played faster to keep up with the beat and hoped for more power to play the melody.

Shadow and Iluminum were having a talk before they fought.

"So, the story continues to be the same" said Shadow.

"You know more then the others. Why haven't you shared this information with your friends?" asked Iluminum.

"If they knew they would lose they wouldn't bother fighting"

"Very true"

"But this story has a different ending"

"Why?"

"Because I know the story and I can change it" said Shadow defiantly.

"You can't change destiny"

"I can try"

Shadow rolled forward and punched Iluminum in the chest. Iluminum wasn't ready for this and was thrown backwards by the force but Iluminum was ready for it and received low damage from the attack. He then began his comeback by kicking at Shadow repeatedly all of which Shadow blocked before using a downwards kick which Iluminum dodged the attack by flipping backwards. Shadow ran forward and continued to attack.

Knuckles and Rouge dismounted the Tornado and ran towards the Master Emeralds alter. Knuckles ran to the seal and placed his hand on the seal. Rouge followed and saw Knuckles concentrating.

"You know what you're doing?" asked Rouge.

Knuckles ignored her.

"Fine don't answer" she replied to the silence.

After a few minutes of silence, Rouge began to get bored. She kicked a stone at one of the columns and it bounced back at her. She spun round with her roundhouse kick and smashed the stone into tiny bits. She smiled.

"I've still got it!"

Knuckles stood up and ran back towards the Tornado. Rouge caught up with him.

"You know where the emerald is then?" she asked.

"Yep. But we need to save Sonic and the others first"

Rouge agreed and they boarded the Tornado and took off to save their friends.

Sonic was feeling slightly faint from the loss of blood during the battle. Along with his shoulder his knee and face were cut and bleeding. The shoulder was the worst blow he had received. Conis had a few cuts as well and was starting to feel fatigued. Sonic leapt forward and lashed out again with his sword and Conis blocked it and threw it round in a circle. Conis trusted forward but Sonic bent his body to the left and dodged the blow.

Tails and Whips were still fighting fiercely above the group. Whips was now using his tails to lash at Tails and Tails was trying to dodge them effectively. Whips threw one tail after another and Tails kept dodging. He then saw his chance and grabbed one of the tails and swung Whips round and let go aiming him at the floor. Whips was taken aback by this and nearly hit the floor but stopped just short and returned to the height of the battle.

Amy was doing well against Thorn and had already knocked her down twice. Thorn had begun to create sticks of earth at Amy and she was dodging them with expert timing. She spun to dodge another mound and then fired off a whirlwind which lifted Thorn off the plateau and over the edge. Thorn began to run back up and dodged the rocks that Amy was sending down.

Cream had fallen to her knees form the power of the melody. Her fingers were now chaffed and bleeding. Milk was none the batter and she was on one knee bearing the force of the rhythm. Sooner or later one of the would fail to produce the correct note and that would be it.

Shadow and Iluminum were still in their fist fight. Shadow was the least damage but only because he had got more attacks in. Iluminum was ready to fight again when he stopped. He then turned and looked to see the tornado coming back.

"Watch your last hope go up in smoke" said Iluminum.

Shadow didn't wait for Iluminum to finish his attack and smashed himself into the back of Iluminum and knocked him to the ground.

Knuckles was in shouting range now.

"Guys! Jump on the plane! Now!" he shouted.

Everyone heard and at once went for the nearest point they could intercept the plane. Shadow saw that Cream couldn't move and so ran towards her and swept her up before the notes slammed into her and killed her. Tails punched Whips one more time and picked up Amy from the ground. He flew them onto the plane. Shadow and Cream jumped on from the floor. Sonic was chasing after the plane. The minions were also following. Sonic jumped at the last second before the cliff ended and just managed to grab the edge of the wing. Shadow helped him up.

Conis spat at the floor in disgust.

"They got away!" he yelled.

"No matter. They won't get to the next emerald before us" said Iluminum.

"Cheq wants us" said Whips calmly.

The minions disappeared.

The group waited anxiously to hear the destination of the next emerald.

"Where are we going then?" asked Tails while nursing cream.

"We're going to catch a spaceship" said Knuckles.

"What?" said Amy.

"We're off back to ARK"

**End of Chapter 11**


	13. Chapter 12: Emerald in the Stars

**Chapter 12: Emerald in the stars**

_Place: ARK_

_Time: 5:15pm_

Sonic and friends disembarked the shuttle and Sonic wobbled to the side and stopped himself falling with the wall.

"What's wrong Sonic?" asked Tails.

"I know I said this last time but that is the last time I let Knuckles drive!" he said.

"It wasn't that bad" said Knuckles.

"You ever been on a roller coaster?" said Rouge.

Knuckles cast a look at Rouge who just winked back. This surprised Knuckles. Tails had been stood in the centre of the room for a few minutes when his device let out a whir.

"I've found the emerald! It's back in the cannons core"

"At least we know where we're going" said Sonic.

"I don't" said Amy, confused.

"Just follow us" said Knuckles who began the trek to the core.

_Place: ARK, cannons core_

_Time: 5:30pm_

Cheq and the rest had been walking for a while now. Down each passage there had been tricks and traps that had been easily dis-armed. Cheq had been the only one doing anything though and Conis was getting impatient.

"Why does he think he can do everything?" said Conis.

"Because he can" said Iluminum.

"He creates us and then he should use our power right? Not the other way round".

"I agree" said Whips.

"Me to" said Thorn.

Milk stopped and blocked the passage.

"You are all inferior being who must serve whatever master calls you. You don't have a choice" she said.

"Well I don't think you know anything.." began Conis.

"Stop Conis. Let's just carry on" said Thorn.

Conis, Whips and Thorn pushed past Milk and carried on.

A few seconds later the group came to a open room with a ring around the centre and yellow liquid flowing around it. The group climbed down the stairs to the ring and stopped.

"That hole leads to the core" said Cheq.

"Let's go then!" said Conis and stepped forward.

"...Feel my loss and despair!!!"

"What the..?"

Suddenly lots of pictures of an old man charged towards them. Everyone jumped into their fighting stances. Then, a bright flash appeared and formed a lizard. It was extremely long with a red light on its back. Its body was completely metal and shone in the light of the chamber.

"This must be another security system" said Cheq calmly.

"I'm not letting you get this one!" shouted Conis running forward.

Whips joined Conis along with Thorn but Milk and Iluminum stayed behind Cheq. Conis fired a sword at the face of the metal lizard and it blinded him and then Whips followed up with a hail storm onto top of the robot and tried to hit the red light. One stone clattered the light but did no damage. Thorn was climbing up the robots tail and heading for the light. Conis and Whips were now dodging the balls of black energy coming from the robots mouth. Whips was dodging well until he flipped the wrong way and got hit by a energy ball. He fell to the ground in pain. Thorn now hovered over the light and swung her mallet down but it bounced back and flung her off the beast.

Conis was dodging effectively but stopped when the robot did. The lizard then created lots of red spots and fired them at Conis. Conis received all off them and fell down. The robot leered over him and was about to strike when it yelled out in pain. Cheq had been inside the robot and removed the major circuits. The robot crashed down and Conis had to roll to the side to dodge the head of the beast.

Cheq walked towards the door and Whips and Thorn followed. Conis ran up and faced Cheq head on.

"I could have had him!" he yelled.

"I saved you because I need you. I have no need for your personality but I need your power" said Cheq, calmly.

Cheq pushed past Conis and carried on.

"Don't bother trying" said Whips.

"He could beat you" said Thorn.

"Well at least I'd battle fairly" said Conis.

The tiny group followed Cheq. If only because they had to.

On the other side of the core, Sonic and friends were walking towards the core and had yet to see and traps. Shadow was beginning to feel the chaos building in the next chamber.

"The emerald's in the next chamber" he said.

"Well, there's no traps in sight" said Sonic.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Cream.

"Probably bad" said Rouge.

On the whim of Rouges words the wall to her left burst open and in walked two figures. On had the head of a dog and an eagle with a tail of a snake and the other had the body of a gorilla with the head of a cat. They charged towards the group. Sonic decided to take charge and ran into one with his spikes and homing attacked the other. The chimera like one attacked Sonic from behind but Amy fired a bolt at it and it caught it in the hip. He fell and the other was subdued by an attack from Knuckles and his fists.

Shadow, however had just stood there while all this was happening. He knew these monstrosities. He ran in and stopped Sonic attacking the creatures again.

"Stop!" he yelled.

"Get out of my way Shadow!" shouted Sonic back.

"Sha..do..w"

The beast that had a cat head spoke.

"It's all right. I'm here" Shadow said before kneeling by his side and helping him up to sit against the wall. The other had enough strength to do this himself.

"You..are ...Sh...adow" he spoke.

"Why do you attack?" asked Shadow.

"We are the alarm for the emerald" said the chimera.

"Who set you?"

"No idea but we were released to destroy the intruders but..."

"But what" asked Sonic, in an confused tone.

"We sent the metal lizard after the other intruders" said the chimera.

"That must be Cheq!" shouted Knuckles.

"We have to go get the emerald before them" said Cream.

Sonic walked up behind Shadow.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"I'll wait here and help these two. You go on ahead" he replied.

Sonic nodded and the group headed off leaving Shadow to tend to his friends.

Sonic and the gang, minus Shadow, entered and saw Cheq and his minions about to set off up the stairs to the emerald.

"Stop right there!" yelled Sonic.

"Damn you blue spike! I see you've grouped together a little band but they can't help you" Cheq said back.

"I want this one Cheq" said Conis, "he's mine"

Cheq agreed with Conis for the first time as he began to climb the stairs. Knuckles ran forward and leapt in front of Cheq and punched him hard in the face. Cheq wiped his mouth where some trace of blood had appeared. He released a small laugh.

"You'll regret that" said Cheq, moving into his stance.

The battle in space had begun.

Cheq and Knuckles locked into a dangerous battle of fists that had begun in the museum which seemed so long ago. Everyone had split off again and faced their own demons and shadows of themselves. Conis and Sonic were again fighting with swords. Sonic, now knowing his own fair share of sword techniques was beginning to beat Conis. Sonic was relentless with his sword and all Conis could do was block and hope for an opening.

Thorn and Amy decided to let rip with their own projectile attacks. Thorn drew her own weapon, a dark purple bow that was loosely decorated with black roses. She and Amy had begun firing arrows and took cover from each other behind nearby boxes. Tails and Whips had returned to the sky and were fighting hand-to-hand on the rafters. Cream and Milk had also returned to basics and were fighting hand-to-hand. Rouge had no one to battle as well as Iluminum. They joined each other in battle. Rouge jumped over Iluminum and flew mid-air. She beckoned him and again he attacked and missed. This continued throughout.

Cheq and Knuckles were fighting bravely against each other. Knuckles was looking through any pain and Cheq was just laughing with madness. Knuckles looked into his eyes and saw the five colours of the emeralds he had absorbed. This made Knuckles fight even harder.

Suddenly, as if they came by some invisible signal, Shadow and 10 prototypes bared in and began to attack the minions as well as Cheq.

"I brought help!" yelled Shadow.

Sonic gave Shadow the thumbs up and beckoned to everyone to follow him to the emerald. Sonic was at the top of the stairs when he saw the emerald. His hand was nearly touching it when a metal hand shot out and smashed him in the face and knocked him over. Neo-M had arrived. He clasped the emerald and opened the front of his face to show where he had kept the yellow emerald before. He placed in the red emerald and closed his face again.

"EMERALD RECOVERED. PREPARING TO DESTROY ANY LIFEFORMS IN WAY"

"Come on then!" said Sonic now on his feet with everyone behind him.

Sonic ran forward and began to attack. Neo slapped him aside again and then began to tussle with Knuckles while Amy creped up behind him. Cream began to play her tune to see if she could calm down Neo but to no effect. Neo fired a round of plasma at her and she hit the ground. Tails kept his eye on the fight below. Shadow and the protos were winning. He couldn't see Cheq though. The Tails felt a

hard hit on the back of the head and fell down. Knuckles had held Neos attention for long enough and Amy flung herself onto Neo-ms head and tried to opened the compartment. Neo shook her off into Sonic and smashed Knuckles into the pedestal that had held the emerald.

"ESCAPE"

"No. You are not"

Neo spun and saw Cheqs hand reaching forward. Cheq grabbed Neos head and ripped it from his metal body.

"FAIlur..e"

The limp body dropped to the floor. Cheq ripped open the door on the head and removed the emerald. Rouge, who had been helping Shadow, ran up the stairs and saw the scene laid before her.

"Put that down!" she yelled.

"Ok"

Cheq absorbed the emerald then and there before dropping it. He then moved his hand and fired it forward. A bright red X appeared in front of him before fading into the air and creating a female bat with blood red fur and a yellow breast plate and black hearts on her white boots.

"Dodge, deal with her"

"Of course master"

Dodge ran forward and began to punch out. Rouge dodged them and jumped over her before kicking her in the back. Dodge spun and lashed out with her kick and Rouge grabbed it and spun her into the ground before putting the boot into her again.

"First is best!" remarked Rouge, "Remember that"

Cheq and his other minions had gathered below and were holding back Shadow and helpers. Cheq motioned and they all disappeared, including Dodge, leaving everyone.

Shadow ran up the stairs and saw everyone returning to their feet along with Rouge helping them up.

"Did he get it?" asked Shadow.

"Yep" said Rouge.

"He needs one more" said the chimera.

"Where is the nearest space shuttle docked?" asked Shadow.

"Next door" said the chimera.

"Let's go" said Sonic, now on his feet.

Everyone nodded and they left. Shadow gave a last longing look at the prototypes. He smiled and they did to. Shadow left to head back to Earth and find Chaos.

Sonic and the gang entered the shuttle and began to sit down. Knuckles, who was behind, was to late to get a seat.

"There is only five seats" said Amy.

"Don't worry, there's a egg pod next to us. Use that" said Tails.

Knuckles agreed and the shuttled doors shut while he went to the pod. When the shuttle was in space Eggman appeared on the screen in front of them.

"EGGMAN!" everyone shouted.

"I hope you enjoy your little sleep" he laughed.

Gas began to fill the room and everyone began to go under. As Tails fell asleep, the auto-pilot took over and began to guide them to the Egg carrier. Knuckles, also noticed his pod was on auto-pilot and began to take him to the Egg carrier to meet a similar fate.

**End of Chapter 12**


	14. Chapter 13: Hedgehog in a Box

**Chapter 13: Hedgehog in a box**

_Place: Egg Carrier 3_

_Time: 7:00pm_

Knuckles appeared from behind a nearby egg craft. He slide left and hid next to some boxes about to be loaded. The nearby robots had yet to notice Knuckles and carried on in their tasks. The shuttle carrying had docked about ten minutes ago in the main bay and Knuckles had landed his pod near the shuttle but had found it empty. He was now trying to find Sonic and the rest.

Again Knuckles moved over to the next set of boxes and again dodged a sight scan by a Eggman robot. Knuckles stopped and listened to the robots talking.

"Eggman got the hedgehog then" said the first robot.

"Yep. And he has the grey emerald too which is a bonus" said the second.

Knuckles had to think about this. If Eggman had the grey emerald all along and Cheq had been working with him why didn't Cheq just take the emerald?

Knuckles didn't have long to think though as the boxes he was behind began to move. Knuckles looked around quickly and noticed an open air vent. He quickly ran and slid into the hole just as the boxes moved. He fell for a few feet before hitting the bottom of the shaft. There was only one direction to go in. Knuckles decided to take it instead of climbing back up.

Sonic awoke in an empty jail cell. Across from him Shadow was trying to break the bars but was failing. Sonic ran up to the bars and saw Rouge next to Shadow and Cream further on.

"Nice to see you Sonic" said Shadow.

"Sonic!"

Sonic knew Amys voice and took a wild guess that Tails was next to her. Then Sonic realised something.

"Where's Knuckles?" said Sonic.

"He left in the pod. We haven't seen him since he left to get the pod" said Tails.

"He might be here" said Rouge.

"He might have gone after Cheq" said Shadow.

"No. He'll be here. I know it" said Sonic.

"Then lets meet him" said Shadow, trying again to break the bars.

Sonic nodded and also began to pull on the bars.

_Place: Bridge_

_Time: 7:10pm_

Eggman stood laughing to himself. He had Sonic and the others, an emerald and Cheq to control. Things couldn't be better. The door behind him opened and he turned to talk.

"Welcome back Neo...."

Instead of Neo-M stood there with an emerald in his hand it was Cheq with something in his hand.

"I wasn't expecting you" said Eggman, trying to cover up his blunder.

"Expecting this" said Cheq.

He drew his hand into the light and threw the object he held next to Eggmans feet. It was Neo-Ms head. His right eye blinked at Eggman. Eggman stood back and looked up at Cheq who had grown a sadistic smile across his face.

"I..I.." muttered Eggman.

"Don't try to protect yourself" said Cheq, "I know you wanted that emerald. All I had to do was cover your transmissions. I killed this robot on ARK but sent back a signal saying he had retrieved the emerald"

"What are you going to do?" asked Eggman.

Cheq walked up to Eggman. He shook his head.

"Oh Eggman.."

Cheq launched forward with his hand and grabbed Eggmans neck. He lifted him up into the air with the greatest of ease and began to squeeze. Eggman tried to break free but to no avail. He could feel his energy going. Failing. A vent door then fell off the ceiling and hit Cheq, this made him drop Eggman who crawled as fast as he could to the nearby door and left quickly. Knuckles dropped down from the ceiling and looked around for a door. Before he could move Cheq floated up from the floor and faced him.

"Not captured?" asked Cheq.

"All I want to do is find my friends. They take precedence over you" said Knuckles.

"Fine. Let me do my business and I'll leave you to yours" offered Cheq.

Knuckles turned and walked towards one of the unlocked doors. He pressed a button and walked through. Cheq smiled. He turned and walked through the other open door and closed it. He faced the Grey emerald and his eyes glowed.

Knuckles walked into the jail and everyone saw him.

"Knuckles!" everyone shouted.

"Better late than never" added Sonic.

The jail bars parted as Knuckles opened them using the pad. They brushed themselves off and Knuckles filled them in.

"The emeralds here?!" said Shadow.

"And Cheq's going to get it" said Knuckles, "I saw him".

"Then lets go!" shouted Amy.

Everyone raced outside of the cell and climbed into the nearby elevator. They took it up to the deck of the Carrier.

_Place: Deck_

_Time: 7:20pm_

The gang reached the deck and ran on to see that Cheq and his minions were collected together. A storm was growing over the Earth now and lighting was striking in the distance with thunder following behind.

"Give us the emerald Cheq!" shouted Sonic.

"After I do one thing" shouted back Cheq as the wind had increased dramatically.

He cast a gaze back at his minions and they disappeared.

"Watch as I create the final minion and achieve the penultimate step to destroying the world!"

Cheq held the emerald high and the energy inside it drained away into his body. He then lowered his hand and pointed towards the ground. Lightning struck the deck and a huge, towering figure appeared. It was completely grey and made of stone.

"What's that?" shouted Amy.

"It's the golem" said Shadow, "The protector of the Earth and the final minion".

"Well, let's smash it up!" shouted Sonic.

Everybody readied themselves but Cheq held back the golem. He stepped forward.

"Before you fight I have something to tell you" said Cheq, "I have just set a course for Angel Island and will reach that destination in about 5 minutes".

"So?" said Knuckles.

"I have also set the self-destruct for 5 minutes. When the ship blows it will fall towards the island and block the entrance to the Master Emerald. I will be in there and you won't be. You won't be able to stop me".

Cheq floated off the ground. He then held out a trigger. He pressed the button and alarms sounded.

"Enjoy!" shouted Cheq as he flew off into the distance.

5 MINUTES TILL DESTRUCTION! EVACUATE!

The golem began to move forward towards the group and everyone again prepared but Sonic stepped forward and faced the gang.

"You should all go" he said.

"We want to fight with you!" shouted Amy.

"No. You've gotta get out of here and get to Cheq. If none of us can get to Cheq before the chamber is blocked that's it".

"He's right. The shuttle is in the bay. We can use it" said Knuckles.

"Then take this" said Tails holding out something.

Sonic took the fake yellow emerald from Tails.

FOUR MINUTES!

"We better go! NOW!" shouted Shadow.

Everyone turned and ran for the exit. Amy cast one look at Sonic and he winked back. Amy used a weak smile before the door to the elevator closed. Sonic faced the golem.

"Alright Rocky, bring it on!"

Sonic ran forward and the golem threw a downward punch. The deck fell apart below the fist and Sonic leapt onto his arm and ran up it to his head. Sonic began to hurl punches but to no avail as the punches did little but itch the giant. The golem then launched his hand to his head and tried to pull Sonic off but Sonic ran round the head quickly and dodged the attacks.

THREE MINUTES!

Sonic jumped off the golems head and ran round him. The golem used his fists to try and hit Sonic but kept hitting the deck and damaging it. The deck got so weak that the golem jumped off the broken deck and watched it fall into the ocean below. Sonic charged at the golem again and ran up the arm and began to attack the head this time with Chaos techniques. Chaos slash seemed to work well and the golem was now annoyed beyond belief.

TWO MINUTES!

The golem, now angry, threw his fist up towards his head to smash in Sonic but he dodged to the left and watched the golem smack himself in the head. The golem wobbled backwards and fell through the hole he had created. He wailed as he fell but before he hit the water he disappeared into grey energy and warped away. Sonic looked around frantically for a door. He saw one and took it immediately.

ONE MINUTE!!!

Sonic charged down the corridors. He knew the basic layout as Eggman had copied it exactly from the other two. Sonic reached the control room and began to tap on the pad. He managed to disable the course and stop the Carrier but the self-destruct had been locked and wouldn't work.

THIRTY SECONDS!

Sonic pulled out the emerald. He had to use Chaos Warp and go to the shuttle bay. He knew Chaos control wouldn't cut it because he had tried it in the ruins of the first Egg Carrier and it didn't last long enough to reach.

TWENTY SECONDS!

He had to focus on the emerald. He began to look into the emerald.

TEN!

Just focus.

NINE!

Focus!

EIGHT!!

Time began to warp past.

SEVEN!

He felt the happy times.

SIX!!

He began to feel the bad times.

FIVE!!

All the pain and suffering was beginning to ache.

FOUR!

Just focus.

THREE!

All he had to do was....

TWO!!

FOCUS!!!!!!!!!!!

ONE!!!!

Sonic screamed out in pain.

ZERO!!!!

Shadow looked left out of the window of the shuttle and saw the Carrier explode before him. Amy began to cry and Cream held her. Tails lowered his head as did Knuckles. A beep sounded on the panel. Tails looked at it.

"It says there is something in the back" said Tails.

The thing in the back began to bang on the door before the panel flashed green. In fell Sonic.

"Sonic!!!" Amy screamed, she then leapt forward and helped him up.

Sonic was sweating heavily. He threw the fake emerald at tails who caught it.

"It came in handy" said Sonic.

"You learnt Chaos Warp then?" asked Shadow.

Sonic nodded. Shadow returned back to the view from the window.

"We have no time for hellos we have to get the island!" said Knuckles.

"Then lets go!" shouted Sonic.

Tails nodded and began to push buttons. He rested his hand on the lever marked GO.

"To the final battle! Angel Island!"

The shuttle flew off to face the great evil they needed to defeat.

**End of Chapter 13**


	15. Chapter 14: Cheqs Betrayal

**Chapter 14: Cheqs Betrayal**

_Place: Master Emerald chamber_

_Time: 7:30pm_

Cheq entered the chamber with his arms outstretched. He could feel the power about to be his and he loved it. Illuminum and Milk walked just behind him like generals of some unholy army. Conis and the rest followed behind. Dodge had refused to walk with them and was balanced on a pillar on the edge of the chamber. Cheq walked up to the stairs that lead to the Master Emerald. He took his first step and it rang out throughout the chamber, resonating only in the hearts of the minions. They could feel it. Each step became louder and louder as he climbed up to the Emerald. When he reached the ledge that held the Emerald he turned.

"Minions! Welcome to the end of the world! What you will witness here today is a great power being returned to his former glory and raining destruction upon those who have stood and will stand against him" Cheq shouted throughout the chamber.

"I don't like this" whispered Conis.

"Me neither. Just stay on your guard" said Thorn.

Conis nodded and closed his hand into a fist.

"You have all served me well and I hope you will serve me well for the eons to come. Now watch. As I claim all that should have been mine".

Cheq spun and faced the thing that had helped so many times but would now betray everyone. He held out his hand and placed it on the Shining destructor and yelled:

"CHAOS ABSORB!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nothing happened. The tension in the chamber was still the same. The Master Emerald still glowed like it was winking and Cheq was still craving it's power.

"CHAOS ABSORB!!!!"

Again everything remained. Cheq was about to try again but pulled his hand back. He laughed to himself. Conis stepped forward.

"What is it?" he asked slowly and calmly, trying not to reveal the fact he was glad nothing had happened.

Cheq turned still laughing.

"It's you" he said.

"Me?" asked Conis, now worried.

"You. And your friends. You see, you have what I need to succeed"

"What's that?"

"Power"

Cheq began to walk down the stairs with each step now ringing out as doom for the minions.

"When I created you I infused a small but large part of my power. In order to be at full power I need it back".

Conis began to walk back as did everyone else except Milk.

"You see, I didn't create you to help me after I became Ultimate Chaos. I created you to help me defeat that spike and his friends. Now they are gone and I need one more emerald, you have no use"

"He's bluffing. He can't do anything to us" shouted Milk.

"Really? Feel this!"

Cheq leapt from halfway up the stair and landed next Milk. He plunged his fist into her ribs. Instead of her flying backwards towards the wall Cheqs fist disappeared inside of her. Her body rippled like water and she began pant. Cheqs eyes glowed and Milks eyes began to lose their pigment. Her long ears began to fade to black and white and then disappear like pixels off a screen, dissolving into nothing. Her arms and hands went next. Going the same way as before. Her legs also went but her torso remained in the air. Milks head then began to fold into her torso. She muttered a few words before she completely went.

"Tr..a..i..t..o.r"

Her head folded away and then her torso vanished into a bright yellow light which flew up Cheqs arm and into him. He pulled his hand away and dropped it to his side.

"Next" he said calmly.

"You...You!"

Illuminum ran forward and threw a one-two punch. Cheq blocked each one and then grabbed his neck. He began to absorb Illuminum. Illuminum faded into nothing and the light created from him flew up Cheqs arm. Dodge, now worried greatly worried for her friends, leapt from the top of the pillar and started spinning. She stretched her legs and kicked Cheq square in the stomach. This took Cheq by surprise and he flew back into the wall. Dodge turned and smiled at the rest. Suddenly, a fist flew through Dodges stomach and waved at the group before Dodge disappeared into another light that Cheq absorbed.

Only Conis, Thorn and Whips remained. Cheq walked forward and brushed himself off.

"You're evil" said Whips.

"No, I'm Chaos" said Cheq rushing forward.

The group jumped into three directions. Thorn ran over to the left and Conis and Whips jumped right and over respectively. Cheq merely laughed as he charged his hand with a grey glow.

"Don't resist" he muttered before firing a blast at Thorn.

Conis was about to attack from behind when Whips beat him to it. He kicked Cheq hard in the spine which knocked him down. Whips didn't stop with the barrage and began to punch at Cheqs face over and over again. He then brought up his leg to do a finishing blow at which point Cheq reached up and grabbed his leg. Instead of absorbing Whips, he absorbed the leg on it's own and let Whips hit the ground. Whips crawled backwards away from his creator. Conis and Thorn were to far away to do anything. Cheq threw his hand into Whips head and absorbed him then and there. His need to impress Conis had been his downfall.

Thorn and Conis held back as to not get absorbed. Cheq just waited and decided to make them come to him.

"You're really that afraid?" he asked.

"No. Just brainy" replied Thorn.

"Says you. You can't even tell a friend of your true feelings"

Thorns hand began to close in anger.

"What are you talking about?" said Conis.

"You don't know?" said Cheq, realising he would now claim one more.

Thorn ran forward in anger. Instead of attacking with her fists she leapt into the air and created a bow on her back. It was long and slender with tow black roses adorning the frame. She pulled an arrow from thin air and fired it at Cheq. Cheq leapt to the side dodging the arrow and then several more that rained down on him. Thorn was about to fire again when Cheq leapt up into the air and smashed Thorn down to the ground. He followed down and picked her up by the neck. Conis could only watch with fear as Thorn began to disappear into Cheq. She then said the words which had bared for years.

"I Love you"

Thorn vanished and only Conis remained, the last of the minions.

"Now, Conis. I have a proposition for you" said Cheq.

"What do you want now?" he asked in a sullen tone.

"You let me absorb you and I claim the world. After that I will create you again and you can go to your own part of the world with Thorn".

"Thorn" Conis seemed to brighten up.

"Yes, just hold out your hand"

Conis looked at his hand and began to lift it. Then, his heart began to speak to him and he lowered it again.

"You need to be dealt with".

"You think you can beat me when the others didn't?"

"No, I just want to avenge them, nothing more".

"Ok then" said Cheq, "Bring it on"

Conis ran forward and began to punch Conis. Conis bended in different ways and managed to dodge Cheqs deadly fists. Conis then created his sword and began to go to town on Cheqs head. The sword did nothing to Cheqs skin but began to knock him out a bit. Cheq pushed back with a barrage of kicks. Conis felt this but his rage was too much. Conis then struck back with his sword but Cheq knew this was coming and punched it at the same time which shattered it into a thousand pieces. Cheq then pushed Conis away and onto the floor. Cheq stood over Conis and laughed.

"You are just like the others".

Cheq reached down, about to fulfil his objective, but then a crossbow bolt collided with the back of Cheqs head knocking him over. Amy lowered her bow and the others ran in behind her. Conis stood up and approached them. Amy increased her bows angle again at Conis forehead.

"Don't come any closer" she said.

"Where are the rest of you?" asked Sonic.

"Cheqs absorbed us all. He needs us to get the..."

Conis was cut short as his head bent backwards and a bright light appeared in his place and flowed into Cheq like water over a fall. Cheq smiled with glee.

"Looks like I win" said Cheq.

Sonic and the rest took a step back. Cheqs eyes glowed with might as he began to glow.

"The final phase is here!" he yelled, "Watch as the finale begins!!!!!!"

**End of Chapter 14**


	16. Chapter 15: Finale Part One

**Chapter 15: Finale - Part One**

_Place: Master Emerald Chamber_

_Time: 7:45pm_

Sonic and the gang watched as Cheqs arms nearly doubled in size and his dreads grew long. His eyes glowed with passion and his mouth formed a deranged smile.

"We won't let you take the emerald!" yelled Sonic.

"You would really defeat me? Please! You could only try" replied Cheq.

"Then we'll try our hardest" muttered Tails.

"Really? You would get rid of me?".

"What are you talking about?" said Knuckles.

"I am a villain. You are heroes. If there were no villains there would be no heroes, if there were no diseases there would be no cures and if there was no chaos there would be no peace. One cannot survive without the other".

"There will always be evil" shouted Amy.

"Yes, there will be! But the strength of that evil will always depend on the power of the heroes trying to stop it".

"You're mad" stated Cream.

"Well then, that is enough talking. I believe there is an emerald I need to claim".

Cheq turned to walk up the stairs but Shadow ran forward and kicked him in the back. Cheq fell forward but a forward roll put him back on even terms.

"I will not let the world fall into the hands of a deformed, mad being" said Shadow, "I will die first"

"That can be arranged"

Cheq fired a beam of white light at the group. Shadow jumped over it as the rest split in different directions. Shadow landed with poise and readied himself. Cheq also pulled himself into a stance and muttered:

"It is you! You are the one full of chaos!"

"That's right, and you are one dead chaos"

Shadow ran forward and began to kick Cheq in his newly made torso of muscles. Cheq grabbed Shadows hand and hurled him into Tails who was following behind. Sonic was behind Cheq and spun into him with his spines. Cheq slid in a semi-circle and brought his leg up and Sonic caught it with his face.

Knuckles saw that Cheq was busy with the rest and took his chance. He ran up the stairs and grabbed the Master Emerald from the top of the podium. Cheq could now feel the Master Emerald and saw that Knuckles had claimed it. He fired another beam of light towards Knuckles who jumped off the top of the stairs at the correct moment. The beam of light began to chase Knuckles around the chamber. Knuckles began to ran up the wall to doge the light beam. Amy fired one bolt after another at Cheq to stop him firing. They bounced off him harmlessly.

Cream pulled out her violin and began to play the melody. Cheq held his head with pain. He cast his glance left and saw Cream. He summoned some strength and charged towards her and brought his hand down on the violin which then split in two. He then grabbed Cream by her arm and hurled her into Amy and they both hit the ground. Knuckles was hiding behind a piece of rubble and was waiting for Cheq to look away.

Shadow ran up to Cheq and ran round him in circles. Once Cheq was dizzy he leapt into the air and attack using Chaos strike. Cheq dodged the first lot of swords but couldn't dodge the same attack from Sonic who had surprised Cheq. Tails flew high up in the air and used Chaos gravity on Cheq. He caught it and was held to the ground. He struggled hard and burst through the wave of gravity and fired it back at Tails who was flung into the wall.

Knuckles made a run for the door to escape with the emerald. Cheq saw this and fired his beam of light while grabbing a cocky Sonic who thought he could run past him. The light hit Knuckles with force and flung him to the ground. The Emerald rolled to the side and Cheq chucked Sonic into the chasing group and ran over. He clasped the emerald.

"This is it!" he yelled, "CHAO ABSORB!"

Cheq began to absorb the emerald. The energy knocked him to his knees as he felt the energy flow through him. Cheq was halfway through the emerald when Knuckles rose from the ground and punched him with all his might in the face. Cheq dropped the emerald and it rolled to the feet of Amy who pocketed it and ran for cover. Cheq got to his feet and began to fight with Knuckles. Cheq threw a left which was expertly blocked by Knuckles who followed with an uppercut. Cheq rolled to the left and brought his foot to Knuckles knee which brought Knuckles down. Cheq followed this up with an elbow to the face which put Knuckles to the ground.

Rouge, who had hung back throughout the battle, saw her chance and began to fight Cheq herself. Cheq merely laughed at her measly attempt. Rouge ran forward and began to smash Cheq around with her punches and roundhouse kicks. Cheq was taken by surprise and was knocked to the floor when Rouge brought down her leg onto his face. Cheq was down but not out. Her spun upwards and over Rouge before smashing her in the back. Rouges left wing snapped and she screamed out in pain.

"Rouge!"

Knuckles had crawled over from his place and tried to stand but Cheq was ready to finish him off. Sonic saw this and homing attacked Cheq away from the scene. Shadow then fought Cheq where he had landed. Cheq was dodging the flurry of punches that Shadow gave before knocking him down. Cheq stood over him and hadn't noticed the rest of the gang minus Rouge and Knuckles who were in the corner.

"NOW!" shouted Shadow.

Cheq finally realised he had been trapped. Everyone around him attacked with their Chaos techniques at the same time. Cheq fell in pain. Shadow stood and smashed his fist into Cheqs face. Cheq fell to the floor lifeless. The gang moved over to Rouge and Knuckles who had propped themselves up against the wall. Cream brought out some bandages and began to bandage it. Knuckles looked over Sonics shoulder at Cheqs body.

"Is it over?" asked Knuckles.

"I hope so" said Sonic.

Everybody was then so focused on Rouge and Knuckles that they failed to notice Cheq stand up and begin to move over to Amy who held the Master Emerald.

"He wasn't that strong" bragged Sonic.

"He nearly knocked you out" said Shadow.

"Stop it you tw.. Arrrrgghh!"

Amy was pulled backwards and Cheq grabbed the Master Emerald before tossing her aside like a rag doll. He jumped backwards and high into the air before landing on high ledge where the Master Emerald had rested. He held the Emerald high up and yelled:

"CHAOS ABSORB!!!!!!!!!"

The Master Emerald again drained into Cheq and this time it all went. The clear Master Emerald fell to the floor and Cheq laughed with glee.

"Watch as you see my true form!!!!!!" shouted Cheq.

Cheq began to writhe on the platform. His body jutted forward and back but he still held his smile before screaming in pain and emitting a white light that blinded all.

When the light had faded a strange water like blob stood in the form of Cheq on the platform. The water then fell to the floor in a tiny puddle.

"Is that it" asked Sonic.

His answer came quickly as the chamber shook and the tiny puddle grew to the size of the platform before rising into a tower shape. Tentacles burst from its sides and began to feel their surroundings. Faces kept appearing in it. One human, one hedgehog and another an Echidna. The group began to walk backwards as the tentacles came forward and were about to fight when the monster screamed in pain and a body flew out and landed near the group. The figure stood up and brushed itself off before lifting its head. It was Cheq.

Cheq took a few steps forward before falling over and then crawling back to his knees. Knuckles walked forward to him and looked him in the eye.

"Cheq?" he asked.

"Brother?" Cheq replied.

Knuckles hugged him and then helped him to his feet. Knuckles urged the rest forward and they came. Cheq looked back at the monster on the platform and his eyes glowed and the monster screamed again.

"What are you doing?" asked Sonic.

"I am holding that creature back. It wishes to attack but I won't let it" replied Cheq.

"So you are the true Cheq" said Tails.

"Yes. I have been used enough by that monster. He is no longer Chaos or his power. He is now ultimate Chaos and he can destroy the Earth if he escapes this chamber".

"What do we do then?" questioned Knuckles.

Cheq broke away and held his arms aloft.

"Come Chaos Emeralds. Help me in the time of need!"

Suddenly, all seven chaos emeralds burst through the ceiling and landed in the palms of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream and finally Shadow. Cheq lowered his arms and then fell to his knees. Knuckles ran over and helped him up again.

"I have used the last of my power to bring you these emeralds. You have seen him use absorb so many times you should be able to use it. Take back his power and weaken him. I don't have enough power to hold him anymore. Prepare yourselves!"

Sonic and the rest lined up in front of Ultimate Chaos and held their emeralds tightly. The creature screamed one more time before Cheq released his control on him. Sonic closed his eyes. The creature then threw it's tentacles down towards Sonic. Sonic opened his eyes and said:

"Let's go"

**End of Chapter 15**


	17. Chapter 16: Finale Part Two

**Chapter 16: Finale - Part Two**

Sonic rolled to the left and dodged the tentacle as it smashed the ground where he had once stood. The others broke off to surround chaos and hopefully distract him. Cheq pulled himself to the side. He had used his power and he would help again when his power had returned. All he could do at the moment was watch and wait for his moment...

Chaos tentacles writhed around the floor and in the air. Sonic he decided to wait for a distraction and began to creep around to the back of Chaos. Tails flew up into the air and whipped out the teal emeralds remains. He grasped in tightly.

"For all the good in the world" he said.

Tails fired his emerald at Chaos who immediately reacted. His tentacles flew around towards Tails who began to dodge them with ease. Every time he got a chance he absorbed a little more energy. Sonic saw his chance and flew out of the shadows and began to run round the chamber firing his emerald. Chaos emitted a strong light from which spears came and embedded themselves in the ground behind Sonic. Amy readied her emerald and saw that Sonic was going to get caught by an arrow from Chaos. She fired a bolt at Chaos which he absorbed as soon as it touched his body.

Chaos began to attack Amy now ignoring the emerald fire. She was able to dodge the tentacles and fire her emerald a few times before a tentacle caught her mid-jump. She rolled to the side and Chaos picked her up before flinging her into the wall. Chaos tentacle then covered the emerald and brought into his body. It now floated inside Chaos emitting the purple light it had before.

"I..am..now..closer...to...it" said Chaos in an eerie voice.

Sonic ran over and picked up Amy before bringing her to the entrance. He placed he down and felt her pulse. It was strong. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief before speeding off to fight more. Cream was worried about using her emerald. If it took Chaos power it would attack her and she wasn't sure she could take a hit from it. Cream shook her head. She lifted her emerald and fired with its light. Chaos noted the light beam and he began to grow over Cream.

Chaos was now much taller and wider engulfing the whole podium in the centre. Cream kept firing. Unafraid of the damage she could take. Rouge noted the fact that Chaos was going for Cream and she had just reached her vantage point on the ledge around the chamber. She brought out her emerald and began to fire hoping to draw attention from Cream. It worked and Chaos turned. But, instead of turning towards her he created a completely new side complete with the same faces on the other aside. Rouge was taken aback by this and failed to see the tentacle aiming for her. A the last minute she saw it and rolled to the left as the ledge blow her shattered under the weight of the tentacle. Rouge missed the ledge and decided to fly back up but she had forgotten about her wing.

Rouge screamed out in pain and tumbled towards the ground. Shadow, who had been secretly firing beams, saw that Rouge was about to hit the floor and charged over and caught her in the nick of time. She was knocked out still from the shock but still alive. Shadow put her down and looked up. Chaos had just swept up Rouges emerald and Creams who now lay on the floor not moving. Tails and Sonic were still firing strong.

Tails was dodging the tentacles really easily and his emerald was almost half full. He knew if he kept going he would be alright. Chaos was now annoyed with him and formed a giant hammer in the air which swung with full force into Tails, who fell immediately to the ground. Knuckles, who had been helping Rouge get up before preparing to fire decided his emerald was not strong enough and fired a Chaos hail at him. All Chaos did was absorb the stones and transform them in his body. The shot back out at Knuckles as spikes which he dodged by forward leaping over them. He ran over and punched Chaos. Instead of injuring the creature, Knuckles was sucked in and repeatedly shocked by electricity. He was pat back out minus the emerald to the feet of Cheq who had nearly regained full power.

Sonic and Shadow were all that remained and Chaos knew this as five emerald colours floated inside of him. Sonic was finding it hard now as Chaos was focussing all his attacks on him. Sonic then miscalculated a jump and got hit, dropping his emerald. Chaos shot for it but so did Sonic who then grabbed it first. Chaos also grabbed it and pulled it towards him. Sonic was also pulled and flew straight through the jelly like body of the creature and smashed into a nearby wall. Shadow remained. All he did was walk round in circles around Chaos. Chaos began to fire everything at him and Shadow took it without ever losing grip of the emerald.

Then, Shadow was caught by surprise by a loose chaos sword and he hit the ground. The emerald rolling tantalisingly towards Chaos, who absorbed it easily. Chaos then glowed strong. The emeralds inside of him began to spin and form a bubble of pure white chaos.

"Prepare..for...the..ultimate"

The power began to spin quickly and jutter forward. The roof opened up into holes as chaos from around the world began to go into Chaos. His body shook with a foreboding laughter as he took aim towards Shadow.

"Good..night...one..full..of..chaos. Ultimate CHAOS!"

The beam then shot forward. The next scene seemed to happen in slow motion. The attack shot forward and Shadow thought it was the end. Cheq ran on as if from nowhere and leapt in front of the beam and took its full force. The shockwave of the attack sent Shadow backwards into a beam of the chaos light that now shone down through the clouds of the storm and the ceiling. Cheq fell to the floor still smoking from the attack. He was dead. Chaos now reeled in pain. It had taken a lot to do that attack and he was now injured. Shadow then looked up into the light.

This is it he thought the end

Then he felt something. He felt power and lots of it. He looked at his hand which was now turning a golden colour. The light then shone from Shadow and blinded Chaos.

When it dimmed, Shadow was now hyper. His quills had grown and stood in an arc over his head. His gloves were now a bright gold and his fur was also a bright gold. Chaos now screamed and the light disappeared but Hyper Shadow remained. Shadow then ran forward and began to let rip into Chaos. Chaos tried to attack him but Shadow was now faster than light. Shadow jumped away from a tentacle and began to run round the room almost vertically. Chaos tried everything but kept missing. Shadow leapt and performed a spinning double kick which collided with Chaos. Again Shadow leapt from the wall and performed the same attack and again hitting Chaos, who was now screaming out in anger and pain.

Shadow then floated down in front of Chaos. He held his hands in a circle in front of him and began to form a white light of pure Chaos energy exactly like Chaos had. The emeralds that had been scattered across the field of the battle now floated up in the air and rejoined with Shadow. They floated in a circle around Shadow giving him that extra energy he needed. He closed his eyes and focussed before opening them and saying:

"Good night Chaos. ULTIMATE CHAOS!"

The beam of light shot forward and there was no one to save Chaos. He took the blow straight to the gut and it opened up Chaos easily. Chaos then faded in front of him and the Chaos emeralds shattered with a high pitched scream. Shadow fell down and a bright light filled the room.

Sonic looked up from the floor and saw Shadow being held aloft and seven different energy beams shooting into him. The final green light laughed before entering his body. Shadow hit the floor and Sonic returned to his state of unconsciousness.

**End of Chapter 16**


	18. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

Sonic awoke and sat up. He was at in a hospital ward with Knuckles by his side. He put down the magazine he was reading and sat up.

"Afternoon Sonic" said Knuckles.

"Chaos. Amy. The world. What's happening? I need to get back.."

Sonic tried to get out of bed but Knuckles held him back.

"Don't worry. Chaos is gone. The world is safe and I sent Amy and Cream off to go get some retail therapy" answer Knuckles.

"What about everyone else?"

"Well it's been one week. Rouge went back to the government and they agreed to let her off stealing the bomb if she took up the report on some chaos temples. She agreed. Tails is back at his workshop trying to fix the tornado and Shadow.." Knuckles trailed off.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"He was found in a coma next to Cheqs body. We don't know what happened"

"So Cheqs dead?"

Knuckles nodded solemnly.

"I buried him near the Master Emerald place. It's now in the ocean as all chaos emerald and the Master Emeralds were found in pieces to tiny to put back together".

"Is Shadow here then?" asked Sonic trying to change the subject.

"Yep. You want to see him?"

"You bet!"

Sonic slid out of bed and he and Knuckles headed for the door. Knuckles hummed to himself.

"What?" said Sonic.

"It's strange. I can still feel chaos"

Together they left to go see Shadow.

Shadow lay on a bed hooked up to drips and machines. His hand twitched. Then his body. Shadow then slowly moved his eyes behind his eyelids. Then his eyes opened to reveal the seven colours floating around his pupils and a evil smile crossed his face.


End file.
